


Three Days, Two Hearts, One New Rhythm and Beat

by OmnipresentNuance



Category: The Loud House (Cartoon)
Genre: Bisexuality, Developing Relationship, Drama & Romance, F/M, Relationship Issues, Self-Doubt, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:02:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25577014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmnipresentNuance/pseuds/OmnipresentNuance
Summary: A week has passed since Luna and Sam decide to call it quits and even though they choose to remain friends, Luna is left in self-doubt if she’ll be wanted at all by someone else again. However, when she has a conversation with Sully over a difficulty he’s going through, it lays in motion a series of rapid events that bring him and her much closer together than ever before.
Relationships: Luna Loud/Sully
Kudos: 3





	Three Days, Two Hearts, One New Rhythm and Beat

**Author's Note:**

> Why, hello there. Yes, back at again it again at last. Okay, eleven days since my last upload isn't an eternity, but given my past rate of posts, it could feel like that comparatively speaking.
> 
> I will say that there are a handful of reasons for the time passed. Between this one taking a little over a month to do, working on a couple others concurrently, getting into the very early stages of this fanart thing myself and generally horsing around on Twitter (which you can follow me through the handle @OmniPrNuace), I've been pretty busy.
> 
> All right, need to get this out of the way too in case I terrified anyone with the opening line in the summary...
> 
> *This is a stand alone story in no way connected to "The Loud Sharp Chronicles". Do not fret and despair, folks, you'll get your eventual Saluna goodness as that series progresses further.*
> 
> Okay, with that said, here we go with my first proper romance story which involves the *other* individual in her band Luna is most commonly paired up with, Sully. So in other words, hopefully you be willing to indulge in a rare written Suluna form of which I'm contributing to. Oh, and obviously you'll be needing to free up some time, because this be a long'un. Feel free to wait until you do have a more convenient schedule to give this one a read should you desire. I don't expect anyone to read whatever I put up within the first minutes or so it gets published. That choice of when you read is always entirely up to you.
> 
> With that said, enjoy!
> 
> The Loud House is the exclusive property of Nickelodeon and Viacom. The usage of the setting, characters and such is based on nothing more than a pure affinity for everything and is not being used for monetary purposes.

Thursday, 3:00 PM. The end of what has been typically a standard day over at Royal Woods High School.

A standard day, however, is not what Luna Loud could describe herself in having either today or pretty much the past week of similar school days. Nothing technically bad happened to her in those span of days. She wasn't bullied, had any sort of bad encounters with any of the teachers or faculty members, or really had any embarrassing moments or misfortune occurring to her in those days. Rather, it was actually what _hasn't_ happened in that past week as a result of another event that has had her questioning herself on a fundamental level to the point it has sort of dragged her down since then.

As she gathered up her things from her locker, Luna glanced over at something within inside the door to that locker. She sighed depressingly and stared at it for several seconds almost in a trance.

"Hey, Luna! Way to kill it in music class today!"

That lofty compliment made Luna return to reality. She shook her head around to regain herself further and then turned to look over her shoulder to see her fuchsia haired friend and bandmate Mazzy being the one who spoke to her.

"Oh, uh...thanks, Mazzy. You rocked it yourself as well!" Luna said, forcing a smile.

"Aw, that's nice of you to say, but really, you're the queen of rocking it out. That's why you're the one who fronts our band in the first place." Mazzy said, patting Luna's shoulder, "Speaking of which, we're still on for that jam session Saturday?"

"Uh, yeah, of course! No reason why I shouldn't be, right?"

"Cool! Well, see you later!"

"You too! Later, brah!"

While Mazzy headed off, Luna trailed off into a series of awkward laughter that concluded with another rough sigh and a gloomy look on her face. Normally there wouldn't be any reason for her to find the idea of jamming with her band to be something she'd either turn down or not to be worth looking forward to. But in this case, the event that left her in this state of mind in the past week sort of changed that.

She took another glance at the item stuck onto the inside of her locker door. Specifically, it was a group picture of herself and her bandmates together in all smiles. But while it would typically put even a little grin anytime she'd look at it, there was one person within that picture which has made her feel glum, not necessarily because she's grown to have negative feelings for that individual, but again the aforementioned event had left her in an emotional and mentally weakened mindset that she can't help but feel defeated in a sense.

As Luna finally got all her things and was ready to leave, she closed the door to her locker. But no sooner to did she do that did she find herself startled by locking eyes with the very person who in which the circumstances had left her in that mood she's been held down by in the last week.

"Hey, Luna…"

Standing before Luna was Sam Sharp, the girl who she had crushed on and tried working something with. Make that _had_ been working and extra emphasis on "tried".

"Oh, hey there, Sam…"

Unfortunately, due to reasons neither side could full ever figure out or comprehend, both of them called it quits in trying to go beyond being merely friends and into something more. Because of the crushing disappointment that resulted in that sorrowful decision, they sort of avoided being around the other, unintentionally or otherwise.

"You, uh...doing all right?" Sam asked.

"Oh, sure...totally…" Luna answered, not even trying to hide how awkward she felt.

The two of them stood around in uncomfortable silence, hoping the other would be the next one to say something.

"Uh, hey...I gotta get going right now...so…"

Her things at hand, Luna turned around and attempted to leave. However, a hand on her shoulder put a stop to that. She looked over her shoulder and saw a solemn look on the face of the girl with which whatever relationship she had left was ambiguous at best and tenuous at worst.

"Luna, wait...we can't keep doing this. We can't keep avoiding each other or the subject we really need to talk about. So please, I think you can spare a few minutes." Sam said.

As much as Luna didn't want to admit it out loud, Sam was right. Both knew that simply letting time go on by and keeping a distance will not solve the underlying issue as to what caused them as being unable to be compatible enough to form something together.

"Okay, I'll grant you that." Luna conceded after some seconds of thought and a sigh, "Where do you want to chat at?"

"I was thinking maybe out by the side of the school. Best we have some place where we can get a good amount of privacy." Sam replied.

"Sure, I suppose that'll work. I guess you're also suggesting we go over there together at the same time?"

"Yeah...that's what I thought. Is there a problem with that?"

"Oh, no, not at all, brah! Lead the way then!"

Despite a little brief bit of confusion, Sam shrugged and lead her and Luna over to where they'll finally talk it over about what might've lead to things ending between them. Along the way, Luna got her phone out and sent out a quick text to her fellow high school sisters Lori, Leni and Luan, to remind them she had a little business to take care of before they could all leave together as planned, though she didn't mention what that business was exactly.

A short walk later and the pair arrived at the left side of the school where they chose to take a seat on the ground and with their backs against the wall.

"All right, so…" Sam said awkwardly.

"So…" Luna added in a similarly clumsy manner.

It was becoming patently clear such a talk wasn't going to be easy. They both sat in silence acting like they wanted the other to be the one to properly start the conversation. Ultimately, Luna tried to lead things off.

"Listen Sam, I think it's obvious this is all my fault, because…"

"No Luna, I'm gonna stop you right there." Sam interrupted in a surprisingly stern tone, "I'm not gonna let you take the whole 'it's not you, it's me' route. I don't want to see you do that and I won't do that myself, either. Our situation is more complex than either one of us being solely to blame."

"But isn't really, though? I'm the one who said in the first place last week things between us weren't really jiving too well and that there couldn't be much of a point in us staying together should that be the case." Luna brought up.

"Yeah, we _both_ came to that conclusion and we _both_ decided to call it quits on a mutual basis." Sam countered with, "Come on, Luna, enough with this idea that you're entirely to blame."

In truth, Luna didn't actually disagree with Sam's insistence she wasn't all at fault for everything. If for any other reason, it may have been more due to her tendency in reflexively wanting to blame herself for anything that goes wrong with those around her, be it for wrecking several of her sisters' first concerts, how she acted like a real bonehead to her siblings and father when they formed a band for the Family Fun Fair or even just feeling regretful for acting briefly snobbish to her family and initially dismissing their concerns over her sudden transformation as Lulu before righteously ditching the getup onstage prior to her performance on "America's Next Hitmaker". It's an unfortunate habit of Luna's and it appears to have sprung up here again in trying to evaluate the ending of whatever closer relationship that never materialized with Sam.

"All right, I'll try not to, Sam." Luna said with a sigh, "It's just so hard to figure why exactly we couldn't make things work together."

Sam also sighed, "Yeah, I get that myself. I mean, we can't necessarily blame it on not having much in the way in common because we told each other and agreed at the end of the Astonishing Quest that shouldn't really matter and maybe eventually we'd find commonality the more we hung out."

"That's true, but look where that's gotten us since then with where we are now…" Luna said sadly.

"Well...that's a harsh way of putting it...but I guess there's not much of a way in arguing against it. I know I just said everything that's gone down may be more complex than it is, but I guess sometimes it seems like no matter how hard you try, if there's nothing there between two people, then I suppose there is not much you can do about it." Sam stated, saturnine in tone.

As hard a reality that was to swallow, Luna had to realize that there didn't appear to be any other two ways about. Yet despite the lamentable state of everything, she was about to get a sudden and surprisingly different perspective from Sam.

"But you know...if we had to call it quits, at least we did so before we really got into it deep. In fact, who says that just because we can't work it out as a couple that we have to stop seeing each other full stop?"

"Uh...well, can we really do that?" Luna asked unsure.

"Why not? It's not as if I stopped liking you as a result and I bet the same for you, right?" Sam responded.

"Of course, Sam! I do still like you! I just didn't know if you still liked me after all that hard business of us choosing to split up."

"Well, now that you do know that, what do you say? Friends?"

With that said, Sam stood up and extended her hand out to Luna. The latter was little unsure at first, but the more she thought about, the idea of not having this girl in her life even if it were to be a purely platonic basis was a life scenario she didn't want to contemplate in the moment.

Knowing this, Luna looked up at Sam, grasped onto her hand to allow herself to be pulled back up, then she smiled and enthusiastically initiated an embrace.

"Friends...and perhaps never say never again in an ideal world?" Luna wondered.

"Uh, I think you might be being a little too rosy on such a prospect, Lunes…" Sam said bluntly, perhaps a little more than she meant, "But I suppose anything's possible, though I'd recommend we stick to friends in the near term."

"Sure, sure, of course, I get that. Either way, I'm so glad we finally got this out of the way and cleared everything up, Sam. I'm sorry it took us this long to do this." Luna said with a tinge of regret.

"It's all good, and I'm sorry on my end, too." Sam added.

Having said that, she finally returned the embrace Luna began. The two of them let out a simultaneous sigh, feeling the burden that hung over them in the past week being lifted and relief came in its place knowing that the unfortunate end of any possible romance between them is in no way a marker for the end of a still close friendship.

"Well, glad we got that all cleared up now." Sam said upon ending the embrace, "So, see you at that jam session with Sully and Mazzy this coming Saturday?"

Luna grinned, "You better know it!"

"Great! Well, see you then."

"Yeah, you too. See ya, Sam!"

Both shared a wave and then Sam went off on her way while Luna stuck around for a moment. She grinned, happy to have at least known that friendly relations with Sam were still going to be maintained.

"Oh, there you are, Luna!"

Suddenly, she turned to her right to see her one lone male bandmate and friend Sully running up to her.

"Oh, well hey there, Sully. What's up?" Luna asked.

"I've been looking all over for you actually." Sully responded, taking a few seconds to catch his breath, "I'd worry you'd already had left by now, but I'm glad that you're still here."

"Uh, why? What's going on?"

"I was really hoping to talk to you about something."

"Really? Well, sorry, but could it wait until maybe tomorrow? My sisters that also go here are waiting on me."

"But it's really important. Come on, Luna, please? I'll try to not to take up too much of your time if I can."

The slight of desperation in Sully's voice was making it hard for Luna to turn down his request. Though she had to know Lori, Leni and Luan might be getting a little more impatient with them having to wait on her, she figured they could stand to spare a few minutes more while she hears her friend out.

"All right, sure, I guess I stand to have a chat with you before leaving." Luna acquiesced.

Sully sighed in relief, "Oh, thanks, Luna. Perhaps we can sit down for this?"

Luna nodded and both she and Sully sat down, very much in the same area that she just had her conversation with Sam.

"Hang on, gimme a sec…" Luna said.

Before going any further, she grabbed her phone and texted her sisters again saying vaguely that she still had some business to take care of and will be joining up with them as soon as she's done.

"Okay, hopefully they won't get too up in arms at me over this. So anyway, what's on your mind, Sully?" Luna inquired.

"Well...I have to admit that this is gonna be a somewhat hard subject to talk about. I've already mentioned it to both Sam and Mazzy as well today, so I shouldn't be too nervous, but I can never be too careful at the same time." Sully said, "Oh, in just in case you ask, I told them not to bring this up with you until I got to personally talk to you myself."

"Uh...okay, whatever…and hey, no need to have too much in the way of nerves, dude. You can tell me anything at all. You can trust me." Luna told him assuredly, patting his knee.

"Well, if you say so. Okay, just give me a minute here…"

Taking a deep breath, Sully took the time in gathering up the added willpower in bringing up the subject matter which has been writhing and gripping him for a period of time now. Like he just said, he brought up this topic to both Sam and Mazzy earlier and they handled it well in his perspective, so he shouldn't necessarily see an issues arsing with discussing it with Luna.

"Okay…Luna, I think...no, I _know_ this by now…" Sully began saying.

"Know what?" Luna asked.

"Well, Luna…" Sully began again, turning to face her directly, "I'm bi."

"Bi? Wait, as in...bisexual?"

Sully didn't respond with words, only instead with a slow, anxious nod.

"Wow...I'm...I'm—" Luna attempted to say.

"Shocked? Disappointed? Maybe even dismayed?" Sully theorized.

"Wait, what? Seriously? Are you for real, Sully?" Luna said in astonishment, "I'm not even close to those things! I'm actually really proud you told me that. That's actually pretty rockin' news if you ask me!"

"Well, thanks, Luna..." Sully said with a clumsy laugh and then a frown, "Still, it doesn't make it any less hard to admit or worry how others might think of me."

Letting out a low groan, Sully brought his knees close up to his chest, folded his arms and buried his face into them. As she looked on, Luna grew increasingly concerned about her friend's distressed behavior over his confession and wanted to understand why while trying to help in whatever way she can.

"Sully, why would you be so worried about this? Is it that you haven't told your 'rents yet and think they'll come down on you hard over it?" Luna wondered, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No, I've actually told them a couple days earlier and they took it quite well." Sully replied, looking back up some, "I just don't know how you'd feel. Maybe you'll see me differently than before despite what you just said moments ago."

Luna could hardly believe what she was hearing. Where Sully was getting this perception that she of all people would see him differently or even in a negative light from this moment of him admitting to being bisexual was beyond her. Luckily, the perfect anecdote to help him see otherwise came to her mind while she moved closer and wrapped an arm around him.

"Sully, remember when I pulled you and Mazzy to the side and came out to both of you as bi, then you gave me a little pep talk that gave me that last little extra push to have the confidence in putting that letter in Sam's locker?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, of course I do." Sully responded.

"Well, I bring that up because I remember you saying something that's always stuck with me. After I had my doubts over how I had a thing for both dudes and dudettes and if that made me a different person in your eyes, you told me that regardless of that, I was still the same girl at heart and nothing will ever change that." Luna explained with a grin, "You remember that, right?"

"Yeah, I do and I still believe that now." Sully affirmed.

"Right, of course! So why exactly would you think I'd see you any differently?" Luna asked.

"I don't know…" Sully conceded, sighing again, "Maybe the more I think about it isn't you, Sam, Mazzy or my parents that I'm worried about, but instead how others will come to see me if they knew. Plus, I've heard boys who are considered gay or bi seem to be looked down upon more so than girls who are the same."

Having admitting to that fear, Sully brought his head back down and groaned again.

"Hey, look at me, Sully."

At first he didn't follow that request. However, with a comforting squeeze of her arm around his shoulders, he eventually did to see a look on Luna's face that mixed compassion with seriousness.

"I'm just gonna lay it straight with you, dude. Screw them. Screw what they say, who they are and how they were taught, trained or specifically instructed to believe about guys like you. If they can't stand the idea of a boy who's every bit into fellow dudes as he is into gals, they're the ones with the problems, not you. But more importantly, no matter if some gnarly types do give you crud over it, know that you have a great supportive set of family and friends who you can always turn to...and that of course includes me."

After speaking those inspiring words, Luna stood up and like what Sam did for her earlier, she extended her hand out to Sully. Now having a smile of his own, he grabbed on to her hand so she could assist him back up to his feet, and no sooner was he back up on his feet did he pull her into a hug, one she welcomed in return.

"Thanks, Luna. You were a big help. I really had no reason to feel nervous talking to you about this after all." Sully said gratefully.

"Hey, no prob, Sully. The pleasure was all mine." Luna said back as she pulled away, "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, are you leaning one way or the other when it comes to guys or gals?"

Sully chuckled, "Actually, it's pretty even at the moment, because I have both a boy and girl in mind. It's only a matter of which one could present the opportunity for me to maybe see if they could be interested in someone like myself."

"Really now? Well, for their sake, I'd think they'd be making a swell choice if whichever one ever decided to be with a cool, good lookin' dude like you are." Luna said.

"Whoa...you really think that of me?" Sully wondered while blushing.

"Sure I do! It's why I see you as one of my closest friends if I'm being honest here…" Luna noted, grinning widely.

"Wow…" Sully said, briefly being speechless, "Well, thanks for that, Luna. Hearing me out _and_ giving me something of a confidence booster, too? This has certainly been making my day!"

"Hey, it's my pleasure." Luna said, patting his shoulder, "Well, I best get a move on. Later."

With that, Luna away from Sully and started leaving. However, not even a quarter of the way through, she paused, turned back around and had a sudden proposition for him.

"Actually, you know, this might sound outta the blue, but do you wanna hang with me in maybe like in an hour or so later from now?"

"Oh...uh, really? But why?" Sully asked surprised.

"I dunno….because I don't have anything else planned for the rest of the day?" Luna mentioned, "And besides, when have we really ever hung out just the two of us?"

"Um...never? I mean, I don't really know…" Sully admitted, "Still, you sure about this?"

Luna nodded, "Yeah, totally. Thought it would be a fun idea is all. So, how 'bout it?"

The more Sully gave it thought, he started to come around to the idea. In a way, accepting Luna's offer for some individualized time out together could be one manner of thanking her for listening to his coming out story.

"You know...sure, let's go for it." Sully said with a smile.

"Great! So like I said, maybe in another hour or so we'll meet up and go from there." Luna suggested.

"Sure, sure, okay. Perhaps we could text one another and figure out exactly where to meet?" Sully offered.

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, I guess I'll be seeing you then."

"Of course. See you, Luna."

Having agreed upon this meetup and hang out, Luna and Sully waved at each other as the former resumed leaving. While she was on her way, Sully sighed and then chuckled.

"I'm so lucky to have her as my friend...and maybe if I'm lucky, perhaps more than that."

Finally, Luna made it to Vanzilla at the parking lot and got inside where Lori, Leni and Luan had been patiently waiting in.

"Phew, finally made it! Sorry for holding things up for a little bit. Hope you dudes haven't been getting real antsy or anything."

"Oh, it's no problem, Luna. It's not like you kept us waiting for literally like 20 or 30 minutes or whatever." Lori said.

"Well, of course I doubted it was gonna take that long." Luna said, sheepishly laughing, "But if you're not gonna get up in my case over it, I doubt the same thing can be said about the rest of our sibs. Weren't we supposed to go pick them up ourselves?"

"Actually, that's not going to be the case anymore. I got texts from everyone else saying they're all taking buses back home. And before you ask, I received those even before the first text you sent us about whatever business you needed to take care of, so don't go thinking your delays had anything to do with that." Lori replied.

"Oh...uh, okay, whateves." Luna simply said.

At last, Lori started up Vanzilla and began driving herself and her sisters back home.

"So, what was that business you had to take care of if you don't mind me asking?" Luan wondered.

"Oh, um…" Luna began anxiously, sighing in addition, "Well, if you must know, first I spoke with Sam for the first time since we...you know, called it quits."

"You did?" Leni asked following a gasp, "What did you talk about?"

"Well...we tried to figure out why we couldn't make it work together and the most she could come up with was something about how if there simply isn't anything there between us, then there's nothing there and we can't do much about it…" Luna answered.

"Aw, that sounds, like, really sad. Sorry to hear that, Luna." Leni said sympathetically.

"Eh...thanks, Leni, but you don't have to feel too sorry for me, though. By the end of the talk I had with her, Sam and I agreed that there was no reason for us to stop seeing each other and we concluded that we can still be friends at the end of the day." Luna said, having a little smile curl on her lips.

"Well, that's at least nice that the two of you are still on some sort of friendly terms." Lori stated, looking briefly at her sister through the rear view mirror.

"Yeah, that's certainly the truth." Luna agreed.

After that was brought up, the drive home continued onward in relative silence. But it wouldn't last too long as the other curiosity as to why Luna was held up for a few extra minutes was soon brought up.

"So besides all that with Sam, what was the other bit of business that kept you busy?" Luan inquired.

"Well...that one involved my other friend and bandmate, Sully. You know, the only dude in my circle?" Luna brought up.

"Sure, I think we know a little about him. Not nearly as much as Sam obviously for instance, but yeah, we sort of know him." Luan replied.

"Right, so anyway, it's like no more than a few second after I had wrapped up my chat with Sam, Sully approached me and said there was something real urge he needed to talk to me about." Luna said.

"What was it?" Leni asked.

"Well, if you can believe, he and I both have something majorly in common in that he's told me that he is also bi."

While both Lori and Luan gasped lightly at that news, Leni was a little bit more confused.

"Bi? Bi what?"

"You know, Leni...bi? Bisexual? As in he digs both dudes and chicks like I do?" Luna reminded her.

The wheels clicked in Leni's mind and sure enough, she also gapsed.

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah…" Luna responded with a pair of chuckles, "I have to fess up in that truly took me off guard, 'cause I never would've imagined Sully being that way. And speaking of which, he actually was real nervous coming out to me thinking I'll see him differently, plus believing he'd be ragged on by others should they know. But I told him how proud I was of him telling me that and that he should pay no mind to anyone who thinks gnarly thoughts of him knowing he has friends and family who are supportive."

"Well, that must have been hard for him to confess such a thing. Still, on the other hand, that was really nice of you to give him those assurances, Luna." Lori told her admirably, "And again, not that we held anything against you in the first place, but now having known this, we really don't blame you at all for literally taking the time in hearing him out."

"Heh...thanks, Lori. I'd do anything for my friends, plus for you three and everyone else in our fam." Luna said.

"Well, we've always known you to be like a candy apple because of how _sweet_ you are!" Luan joked, "Get it? But seriously, on a related note, since Sully told you he was bisexual, did he say who he may have an interest in?"

"Nah, he didn't name names if that's what you're getting at." Luna replied, "However, he did at the very least say there was both a boy and a girl he had eyes on, so make that for what you will."

When she brought that piece of information up, Luna assumed that would be the end of the conversation and for a few seconds, that appeared to be the case. Until…

"You know, Luna, maybe the girl he's into is you." Leni suddenly theorized.

"What?! Me? Really? No way, come on now, Leni!" Luna said both in shock and defensively.

"Well, I don't think any of us would know that for certain…" Lori said, "At the same time, though, he did come to you to talk about his bisexuality after all presumably you'd be very understanding about his situation and there could literally be an outside chance that he also came to you because he might…"

"No, no, Lori, I'm gonna stop you right there! Besides, he also brought that up to both Sam and our other bandmate Mazzy earlier in the day before coming to me! Who knows, either one of them might be the girl he's digging!" Luna argued, her sometimes quick temper rising.

"Maybe, but you just admitted he didn't name any names when talking with you, though. Wouldn't he have said it to you straight up if he had feelings for either one of them?" Luan wondered.

"Well, I…" Luna tried saying, only to stammer and groan, "Dang it, just drop it, okay? There's no way Sully would feel that way for me, okay?! So stop implying that!"

"Luna, to use one of your favorite axioms, chill out!" Lori suggested to her, "There's no need for you to get so upset over this. We're just speculating and nothing more. Like I just said, we don't know at all."

"Whatever...just keep driving us home." Luna said, sighing hard, "Besides, I gotta get ready for a little get together with Sully a little later anyway and…"

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up, you're hanging out with him later?" Luan interrupted.

"Really? Did he ask you if you wanted to do that when you were talking?" Leni added.

"No, _I_ asked _him_! And no, don't think any of it! We're just hanging out as a pair of dudes who haven't really done much together individually! Please, enough already!" Luna demanded in ire.

Perhaps out of necessity in keeping their sister from losing it any further, the subject was dropped completely and an awkward silence held firm in remainder of the drive home.

* * *

"And then once my parents found out about this, they were all like, 'oh, you got a hot date, do you?' Then I was like, 'come on, Mom and Dad, boys and girls can hang out as friends without being anything more.'"

"I know, right?"

This conversation followed by some laughter came between Sully and Luna as the two of them were currently sitting together underneath a tree within a secluded area of town as they were close to the end of their little day out they had.

"Heh...this was fun, Sully." Luna said.

"Yeah, I agree to that." Sully said, patting her shoulder, "Like you said earlier on, we really never have hung out together just the two of us. Usually it's been either our whole band together or just you and Sam when you two used to be…you know, together."

"Oh, uh...yeah…" Luna said awkwardly.

In an instant, the generally happy vibes Luna had been in faded as she grimaced and sighed lightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Luna, I didn't mean to make you upset or anything. I didn't think this would be a sore subject for you still." Sully said apologetically, "And I only say that because I actually talked with Sam over the phone before we got together and she mentioned how despite how things ended that you're still friends."

"Yeah, that's true…" Luna said a little wistfully, "But you're right, it does still sting some how it ended pretty much just like that…"

She pulled her legs close to her chest, hugging them and her eyes began shimmering.

"Luna?" Sully inquired worriedly.

"I know she said that I shouldn't feel like this, but I still can't help but think it's all my fault how everything went down." Luna stated.

"But why, Luna? You shouldn't try to..."

"But why not?! I can't deal with what Sam suggested about how things ended by saying there's nothing between us and we can't do anything about it! _Someone_ had to be responsible for everything and it just has to be me! I've told my siblings before that I felt that she was out of my league and I think that's clearer than ever! She's this gorgeous rock angel and what am I other than some second-rate butch chick?! Who'd ever want to be with me because of that?!"

And with that verbal self-flagellating of herself, Luna fully burst into tears and heartrending sobbing.

Not even giving it a second thought, Sully gently brought her over in his direction, putting one arm around her back and placed his hand behind her head. As she buried her face right into his shoulder and cried into it, Luna wrapped her own arms around his waist and desperately held on.

For Sully, he hated every second of this. To see and hear Luna so broken up over Sam and going to great lengths in acting like she's totally at fault ripped at his heartstrings every bit as much as it must for her. But it was that part about degrading herself over her looks that he honestly took the biggest issue with, because from his perspective, that couldn't be further from the truth.

At this moment, Sully realized he was at an important crossroads in his life. Here was his bandmate, his friend and in all honesty the girl who has been dominating his thoughts for weeks now in his arms debasing who she is and believing no one could see her as being worthy of anyone's deeply held feelings.

But he wanted to change that. He wanted to prove there was someone who felt like that for her. Whether she'd even accept those feelings, let alone if she even felt similarly for him in any capacity, was a whole other question. Yet still he was willing to give it a shot, even at the risk of potentially wrecking the friendship they currently shared.

As Sully mentally prepared for a confession possibly bigger than the one he already brought up earlier in the afternoon, Luna had settled down in her sobbing and voluntarily pulled herself away from his arms.

"I'm so sorry for that, Sully…"

"No, don't apologize, Luna. You helped me out earlier today when I revealed my bisexuality and I'm happy to have been by your side just now in return. That's what friends are for, right?" Sully asked.

"Yeah...I guess so…" Luna replied, sniffling, wiping her eyes and showing a little grin.

She let out a long, shuddering sigh, then felt her head being gently turned over to look Sully right in his eyes.

"Now there's a couple of other things I'd like to say. First off, I hated having to hear you refer to yourself as a second-rated butch chick. I have no clue where you got that one, because that's not true in the slightest. If you ask me, you're both one of the nicest and prettiest girls I've had the pleasure to know."

"What? Really? I mean, I'll take being nice, but pretty?" Luna questioned, blushing lightly, "You're just only saying that in order to make me feel better, aren't you, dude…"

"Well, when you said to me earlier that I was a cool, good looking dude and whoever could choose to be interested in me would be making a swell choice in doing so, were you only saying that to make _me_ feel better?" Sully asked.

"No, not at all. I truly believe that!" Luna replied adamantly.

"So if that's the case, why can't it be the same about me saying similar things about you? In fact, with that in mind, I think I now owe you something of an explanation mixed in with a confession…"

For a few seconds, he took a deep breath and readied himself further for this make or break moment.

"Luna...the girl that I have been interested in...is you."

As soon as those last two words came out of Sully's mouth, not only did the blush on Luna's face grow redder, but she also felt like the breath had been taken right out of her.

"The truth is, I've been feeling this way for a good while now…" Sully went on, "There had been plenty of times I wished that I could've told you before, but once you confided in myself and Mazzy about how you felt about Sam and went through with all that, I never said anything else from that point forward and only wished you the best with her. Of course, things obviously between the two of you took a different turn starting last week."

Next, he put both hands on her shoulders.

"But please understand something, Luna. I haven't been opportunistically waiting for a time or chance for you and Sam to ever split apart so I can then swoop in and confess everything right away. The moment I first learned you and her weren't seeing each other anymore, I let the time go by in case you two would get back together again. But even once I learned from her today how you talked it over and chose to remain friends, even then I still didn't think about confessing. However, once I heard you just now beating yourself up about how no one would ever want to be with you...that's what clinched it."

He then moved one of his hands up to her cheek.

"I know I'm taking a huge risk with this...but better to do so than to go the rest of my like wondering 'what if' and all that, because...I need to show how I truly feel about you, Luna."

Finally, after having said all that, he very slowly leaned in until his lips made gently contact with her own for a short seconds long kiss. In its brief duration, Luna's heart and mind was racing at a million miles a second. Never would she have expected any of this, that she of all people was the girl who Sully had these feelings for and here he was using his words and now actions expressing them to her. It came off as surprising, yet in a way, she actually felt somewhat encouraged by it all.

When Sully pulled away, he too was blushing and had an embarrassed looked on his face.

"I'm sorry if I came on so suddenly to you, Luna. Listen, I wouldn't blame you at all if you want to stop being friends with me or kick me out of the band for this or…"

However, he would get cut off when Luna placed a pair of fingers on his lips, then she very hesitantly repeated the same actions he did by putting a hand along his cheek before leaning up and impulsively giving him a brief return kiss.

"Sully...y-...yo-...you really feel that way about me?" Luna asked very shakily.

Again, using his actions, Sully put his arms around Luna, leaned in and initiated a longer, deeper kiss. Though things were moving pretty fast for her, Luna eventually chose to put her arms around him as she returned the kiss. Things may have not panned out with Sam and although again she didn't expect Sully to feel this way for her, this all just felt right and maybe even necessary to her. If anything else, it served as a validation that someone did wish to be with her after all and if Sully was that person, she saw nothing wrong with that. He's been by her side every bit as much as Sam and Mazzy since the beginnings of high school and just like he did, she'd too would like to take the risk of being more than a friend with him at the moment.

"Does that answer your question?" Sully wonder after the kiss broke off.

Looking up at him with a big smile on her face, Luna leaned her head along his shoulder and maintained her grip on him, sighing contently.

"You know, Sully...there is one question I do have for you." Luna said a few moments later.

"Sure, anything at all." Sully said.

"Well, not that I would ever think you'd be fibbing about anything like that, but...you were telling me the truth earlier about you being bi, right?" Luna inquired.

"Of course, I absolutely was and you're right, I'd never make something up like that." Sully assured her, "I'm guessing the next question you're gonna ask is since you now know that you're the girl I've had eyes on, you must now be curious as to who the boy I had in mind was."

"You've read my mind, dude." Luna said with a small laugh, "I won't pressure you or anything, but yeah, I am curious who the lucky dude that you might've also had yourself set to. Is he someone at our school, too?"

"I don't think so. I've never seen him around, so probably not." Sully responded, "But anyway, his name is Miguel."

"Huh...Miguel...that name for some reason sounds familiar to me…but I'm not sure why." Luna pondered.

"Well, he's an employee over at Reininger's if that helps." Sully said.

"Is he? Wait, I think do know who he is! I mean, I don't know him personally, but my older sister Leni also works there and I do remember he's friends with her." Luna said, "Now I gotta ask why you of all people went to place like that."

"Actually, I don't normally go there. What happened was a while back is that I was accompanying my mom there one time and he was the one who helped us out with a couple of things. At that time, I couldn't help but be struck by him and I started feeling, you know...feelings for him right on the spot." Sully explained, rubbing the back of his neck, "This all happened during the time you and Sam were together and any time I was at the mall, I'd find some excuse to pass by Reininger's just so I could have an excuse from a distance to...well, uh…"

"Have an excuse to check the dude out?" Luna finished saying for him cheekily.

"Heh, sure...let's go with that. As you can perhaps guess, I never worked up the nerve to go up and talk to him about I felt." Sully said with a blush, then he held her a little firmer, "But that's not what's important right now, because this girl right here is the one who now has my full undivided attention."

Another blush came across Luna's face, nonetheless also smiling as she leaned up back so she and Sully could share another kiss before she had some meaningful words to share.

"Thanks, Sully. Knowing someone cares for me like this means the whole world and then some."

* * *

Just only a few minutes later, Sully was walking Luna back home. During their walk, they kept chatting it up, laughed and acting like they were having the time of their lives since affirming a new heightened status in their relationship. Also along the way, Sully had engaged in the common gentleman's gesture of letting Luna wear his jacket over her shoulders after she had noted that the air was getting nippy.

"Oh, my fam's abode is just around the corner, so I can make it back on my own from here." Luna said.

"You sure? I have no problem accompanying you all the way there." Sully mentioned.

"Nah, it's cool, brah. But thanks anyway." Luna affirmed.

As both paused right at the street corner, they looked at one another, sharing grins and nervous chuckles.

"Wow...I really didn't think the day would ever turn out like it did...but at the same time, I'm super stoked that it did." Luna said, her grin only getting wider.

"Well, that makes two of us." Sully agreed.

Closing the gap between them, the pair engaged in a drawn out kiss.

"Oh, should probably give you this back…" Luna said in the aftermath, referencing the jacket.

But not even two seconds after saying that, she felt her newfound beau's hand placed on her shoulder.

"Actually...you can hang on to it." Sully suggested to her.

"Wha…? You wouldn't mind that?" Luna asked in surprise.

"Not at all. I have like I dozen of those things back home." Sully replied, "In fact, the more I look at it, I notice that's actually the smallest one I owned, right around the time when I was twelve and started collecting them."

"Is it? Doesn't that mean it holds a lot of value to you being the first one you owned?" Luna wondered.

"Yeah, but I think it'll be in good hands knowing I'm handing it over to someone who means a whole lot to me." Sully replied smiling.

Showing off an appreciative smile of her own, Luna slipped her arms through the sleeves of the jacket and then proceeded to show further appreciation by giving Sully another quick kiss.

"So, before I let you go...mind if I ask if you're doing anything tomorrow night?" Sully asked.

Luna smirked, "Sounds like you're asking me out on our first official date."

Sully chuckled anxiously, "Uh...yeah, pretty much. So, you free then?"

Once again, she kissed him very briefly and smiled.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Heh...sure."

"So what did you have in mind?"

"Um...I'm not sure. Didn't really think that far to be honest."

"Ah, that's okay, dude. We can figure that out maybe during the school day."

"Sure, whatever works. Well, I guess that'll do for now. See you later, Luna."

"You too, Sully. Later."

After one last kiss, both went off on their separate ways.

Right as she was only a few steps from her house, Luna felt as uplifted and happy as she's ever been in recent memory. She again couldn't believe that in her self-loathing over everything ending with Sam that there was indeed someone right near her all along that cared for her in an amatory fashion. Now having Sully as essentially her new partner in that sense, she'll think twice before doubting herself over over the subject.

Finally, Luna approached the front door to the house, opened it up and was greeted curiously enough by the sight of only Lori, Leni and Luan as they were sitting by the stairs.

"Oh, hey Luna! Welcome back home!" Luan said.

"Uh...good to be back home, brah. You dudes weren't waiting up on me, were you?" Luna inquired uneasily.

"What? No, of course not!" Lori denied.

"But I thought that _was_ what we were doing because we were curiously about what could happen between Luna and Sully and that…" Leni was in the middle of saying.

While Lori and Luan covered their faces in annoyance and embarrassment, Leni only stopped her train of thought because she just only now noticed the addition article of clothing her just returning sister had on.

"Hey, cute jacket, Luna! Where did you get it?"

"Oh, uh...Sully gave it me…." Luna answered, looking around nervously and knowing where this was going to lead.

Both Lori and Luan looked up to see that very jacket themselves just now as well.

"He did? Wait, what for...unless…" Lori was saying.

"Yeah, once again, let me stop you there, sis…" Luna said, following up a sighing laugh, "Looks like I owe you three an apology. Turns out Sully _did_ actually feel the way you suggested he did and I was in fact that very girl he had eyes on. So as we were talking and had a little breakdown over all that's happened with Sam, he allowed me to let it out and then he took the time in confessing how he felt, and then one thing lead to another and uh, yeah...guess me and him are an item now…"

Upon that little new revelation, her sisters gasped.

"Yeah, yeah, let me have now. Go ahead, get your barbs in about how wrong I was and how I shouldn't have flipped my lid at you…"

But instead of being on the end of any sort of mocker, Luna rather suddenly felt herself being received upon an excitable group hug from her three sisters.

"Mock you? Why would we do that, Luna? That sounds so totes sweet!" Leni said.

"Yeah, after knowing how sad you were after all that's happened with Sam, we couldn't literally be more happy that you've found someone else to be with." Lori added.

"Good on you, sis!" Luan cheerfully stated.

Though a bit surprised by these reactions, Luna nevertheless welcomed them wholeheartedly and tried her best in returning the hug she was in.

A half hour later, dinnertime had arrived and indeed Luna's new relationship with Sully dominated the discussion at the table. Upon learning about it, everyone else in her family added their own congratulations and such to her, which only made her just that much more happier over how today turned out.

Further into the evening as most everyone else was either in bed or getting ready, Luna opted to give herself a few minutes downstairs before turning in for the night, though she'll quickly learn that she wasn't alone.

In the living room, Lincoln sat on the couch and had just turned the TV off. He yawned and almost looked as if he was about to head off himself until he saw Luna coming on down.

"Oh, hey Luna. Were you coming on down for the TV?" Lincoln asked.

"Nah, not really, bro. I was gonna just have a little time to myself down here before shoving off for bed." Luna explained, "But since you're here now, maybe we can have that time together instead."

"Sure, I don't see why not. I was meaning to go to bed right about now, but I can hold it off for a little bit." Lincoln accepted warmly.

Smiling, Luna took a seat next to her brother on the couch and kicked back, with him also doing the same.

"So, um...you and Sully together, huh? That's a bit surprising if you ask me." Lincoln said.

"I don't see why it should be. You do know I'm also into boys, right?" Luna reminded.

"Oh, of course, but that's not what I meant by surprising. I was meaning that I didn't expect you to be with someone else only a week after you and Sam went your separate ways." Lincoln cleared up.

"Yeah, I'll admit to that myself to an extend, dude. I didn't really know what to think at first once Sully told me how he felt, but as he went on, I personally couldn't remember feeling like someone outside of our family making me feel so wanted and needed. Before you know it, I was totally sold and now I'm so hyped that I've welcomed him into my heart." Luna said, sporting a dreamy smile and signing happily.

"Well, I'm happy and hyped for you, Luna." Lincoln said, patting her on the shoulder, "And speaking of hype, I bet you can't wait for your date with him tomorrow no matter what you'll have planned for it."

"Yeah, you could say that, bro…" Luna agreed, though a little ambiguously, "Though actually I've been giving it some thought and, well...mind if I ask a favor of you?"

"Uh, sure. Like what exactly?" Lincoln wondered.

"Well, as weird as this might sound...would you come along with me when that time comes?" Luna requested.

"Huh? What? Why?" Lincoln questioned, admittedly flummoxed.

"I don't know how to best lay it out, but I sort of feel a little nervous about this date and thought having like a wingman by my side could help in a way." Luna replied.

"Um...I guess I could see that, but why me specifically?" Lincoln followed up with, "I mean, if you need someone with you, why not for instance Lori? She's the foremost expert of relationships among our sisters, so she might be of better help in that field. Or what about Luan? Given she's your roommate, I think it's always assumed she's the sister of ours who you trust the most. And not that I think about it, why would you need anyone to accompany you in the first place? Shouldn't all the times you've been with Sam give you all the confidence you need to handle this?"

"Oh, I get what you're saying, but my thinking is that I'd be more comfortable with another dude by my side in this case, since it's just different enough than with what I did with Sam." Luna responded, "So what do you say? Can you do this for me?"

Though the idea of tagging along with any sister of his on a date of theirs, let alone the first proper one for Luna with Sully here, was a strange idea for him to conceptualize, Lincoln didn't necessarily feel the urge to say no. He was always willing and able to help any of his sisters with whatever needs to they had and if that meant even being a support figure for Luna, then so be it.

"I guess I can do that if you insist." Lincoln said.

"Oh, thanks so much, little bro!" Luna said in relief, ruffling his hair, "If it makes you feel any more comfortable, you could also maybe see if a little lady friend from school can tag along, too. We can make it double date then."

"Uh...what now?" Lincoln asked, returning straight back to confusion.

"I mean, you don't have to, just only if want to do so. I'm sure Sully wouldn't mind it, both that and you coming along either way." Luna said.

"Uh...okay, whatever you say." Lincoln said, "Well, if that's the plan, better head for bed so since I've got more to get ready for now."

He yawned again and stretched, but then took his sister by surprise when he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Whoa, what was that for?" Luna asked, holding the very same cheek and blushing.

"Just my way of showing how proud and happy I am for your love life rebounding back up to good things again." Lincoln answered warmly.

He moved off the couch and almost made it to the stairs. The only thing that stopped him was when he felt a pair of arms hug him from behind and a set of lips kissing him on his cheek now. He turned around to see a naturally very happy Luna looking down at him.

"Heh...I'd ask why you did that, but…" Lincoln said, chuckling bashfully.

"Yeah, you know that you're not gonna give me a peck without getting one in return." Luna reminded him, "But really, thanks for that, Lincoln, and for the words of encouragement, and for agreeing to help me out here. You're always such a great little bro."

Chuckling again, Lincoln turned around so he could properly hug Luna in return, then both let go and headed off for bed for their big day that both of them now knew laid ahead for them.

* * *

Friday, 10:00 AM. Royal Woods High School.

Luna found herself outside after stepping out from one of the buildings. On her way, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking over, she turned around and saw a big smiling face belonging to Sully.

"Hey there…"

"Oh, uh...hey, Sully...how are…"

The only thing preventing Luna from completing her sentence was feeling Sully's lips making gently contact with her own.

"Oh, I'm doing fine...what say you?" Sully asked, grinning widely, "Make any...swell choices lately with cool, good lookin' dudes?"

Luna stammered and tried to use her words, but all that resulted was blushing, anxious giggling and her attempt at a weak smile.

"You know, you look so adorable when you're nervous."

"Wha? Aw, come on, not so loud, Sully…" Luna said.

Sully chuckled and wrapped his arm around her, "Hey, relax...let's go find somewhere a little more quiet. We do have a little something to discuss after all."

Guiding her along the way, he eventually located a more isolated part next to the one of the school buildings. Once there, he leaned against the wall and held her by the waist.

"So...you excited about later tonight?" Sully asked.

"Oh, uh...sure, of course, dude!" Luna answered, fully regaining herself, "Did you have any joint in mind that we should go to?"

"Well, honestly, I only thought of maybe going out to eat somewhere, but that might be a little cliché. After all, how many first dates go like that, anyway? Furthermore, even if we decide to do that, I'm not that much of a restaurant guy on top of that and the only place that comes to mind is Burpin' Burger, but who'd honestly go to a burger joint for a date of any kind, let alone a first one? I mean…"

This time around it was Sully's turn to be silenced as Luna now leaned up and kissed him.

"Hey, chill out, Sully. If grabbing a burg for a bite to eat is what you'd like to do, I don't mind at all. It is just our first date and we don't need to go somewhere super duper fancy. Plus, it shouldn't be about _where_ you go, but _who_ you're spending with." Luna said.

Putting her arms around his neck, she gave him another kiss, one that this time around he returned in full knowing she actually liked his admittedly basic idea for a first date.

"But speaking of which, there is actually something I wanted to mention to you about that. You wouldn't mind if this turned out to be a little night out for us plus one and maybe two?"

"Uh, what? What do you mean, Luna?" Sully asked.

"Well, you see, I actually asked my little bro Lincoln last night for him to come alongside with me. I don't know, I guess I just feel a little unsure about myself and needed someone to back me up or something." Luna replied, getting a little anxious again, "It might be a little too late to backtrack on that because he's already agreed to come, so…"

"Well, um...sure, why not? If it's really important to you, I guess I can deal with that. Besides, in a what little I've ever heard of you speaking about him in my presence, he does sound very important to you and maybe it would be nice to get to know him." Sully acquiesced, "However, you also said it could be a plus two. What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, I told my bro that he can bring a little someone with him too, so this could end up turning into a double date when all's said and done. Hopefully you're okay with that."

"Uh...yeah, I guess. What's most important at the end of the day is as you said, it's all about _who_ you're spending the night with."

Relieved that Sully has no real issue with one or two additions to their night out, Luna again initiated another kiss with him that had some gusto behind it. He in turn then returned the favor to the best of his ability.

"Whoa!"

However, that kiss would come to an abrupt end when both of them looked over to see Sam and Mazzy having arrived and understandably shocked at the scene they've stumbled upon. Likewise, Sully and Luna let go of one another and were blushing madly, grinning nervously and chuckling.

"Oh, uh...hey there, dudes. What's going on?" Luna inquired.

"Actually, I think _we're_ the ones that should be asking you two that question." Sam replied.

"Yeah, I mean, is it just us or does it look like both you guys are...you know, together now?" Mazzy added.

"Well...heh, I guess there's no sense in hiding it, so...yeah, we pretty much are as of late yesterday afternoon." Sully admitted.

"You're not...upset at us are you?" Luna asked.

"Uh...I'm more shocked than anything since I never really thought of you two as a pair, but no, I'm not upset. Hey, if you're in to each other, why should I object? That's your choice after all." Mazzy said, ending with a casual shrug.

"Oh, well...that's a relief…" Sully said with a sigh, "You're okay with it too, right Sam?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever…" Sam answered rather hastily, "But this little discovery aside, we were actually looking for you guys to again get another confirmation about our jam session tomorrow."

"Ah, right, of course! Sure, we're obviously still down for that!" Luna affirmed.

"Totally!" Sully added.

"Well, good to know, and actually Sully, can you come with me for a moment?" Mazzy requested.

"Uh, sure, I guess. What for?" Sully asked.

"Just...come with we, okay?" Mazzy insisted.

"Okay, all right." Sully replied, "Catch you around, Sam, and I'll see you later tonight, Luna."

Though obviously confused over what Mazzy was wishing for him to do with her, Sully nonetheless followed along, leaving Luna and Sam behind.

"Well...like Mazzy suggested, I certainly didn't see this one coming." Sam said.

"Yeah, bet not…" Luna agreed, "Say, you're really not finding this at all like awkward or even something that's riling you up inside is it?"

"What? What would give you that idea?" Sam asked.

"Well, the way you answered when Sully asked you gave me something of a vibe. Or I dunno, maybe I'm just overreacting…" Luna replied.

"Are you for real?" Sam inquired, reaching over to place a hand on the back of her friend, "Luna, if you're suggesting that I'm jealous, then you're right...about you overreacting that is. If you and Sully are together now and happy about it, then I should be happy about it as well. No way am I petty enough to think that just because we called it quits ourselves doesn't mean I should have problems with you being with anyone else, let alone one of our other bandmates."

"Really?" Luna said, sighing in relief, "Oh, thanks, Sam. Well, I guess I better get going myself. Later."

"Yeah, you too." Sam replied.

With that, Luna headed off on her way. However, unbeknownst to her and just as she was out of sight, Sam didn't nonetheless let out a sigh by herself.

"But I mean...so soon though?"

* * *

A couple of hours later, lunchtime came and went over at Royal Woods Elementary. During that time, Lincoln sat by himself as opposed to being with his circle of friends. He chose to do so in order to have the time only to himself without any distractions so he could focus on the task at hand of finding someone who'd like to join him on what was potentially going to be a double date along with Luna and Sully.

On instinct, Lincoln's first option would've been the most recent addition to his group of friends, Stella. However, given her insistence on only being friends with him and the rest of the boys, she'd probably turn it down no matter if he explained the context of everything and that there's no romantic connotations being made. He was also quick to dismiss a handful of other options such as Mollie, his former crushes Cristina and Paige and random choices like that one girl who likes cookies.

However, it finally hit him. Perhaps there was someone who might be able to go along with this. It was now only a matter of going up and asking her.

Finding that "her" in question over at her locker, Lincoln approached her.

"Hey, Girl Jordan."

That usual name attributed to the fact there were two students at the school bearing the name "Jordan", one a boy and the other a girl here in this case, she looked over and smiled.

"Oh, hi there, Lincoln. What's going on?"

"Well, I've got a bit of a question and request for you if you're willing." Lincoln replied.

"Uh, sure, what's up?" Jordan asked.

"I'm gonna give this a little build up first…" Lincoln said, taking a deep breath, "Are you doing anything later tonight?"

"No, not really. I'm free, so…"

And just like that, Jordan seemed to understand what Lincoln may be suggesting here. She began to blush.

"Wait...are you asking me out on...like a date?"

"Whoa, no, no, it's not quite like that." Lincoln said, waiving his hand around, "Let me give some more context here. You see, my older sister Luna has a date of her own tonight, but she's felt the need to ask me to come along for I guess moral support. She's also said I can have someone else come with me, and since I've already agreed to go myself, I'd feel slightly awkward with it being only just me going to."

"Well...that still sounds like a date to me." Jordan said while rubbing her arm.

"I know, I know, but this may only hopefully be a one time thing. What I'm thinking is that doing this will give my sister the confidence she'll need to go on future dates without further assistance." Lincoln explained more, "So, how about it? I don't think I'm asking for too much here and you know, we haven't really done much together on top of that, so...please?"

For a few seconds, Jordan debated in her mind over Lincoln's proposition. She couldn't shake the idea of this sounding like a date no matter the explanation. When a boy is asking a girl if she's not doing anything later in the night, she can't help but interpret it as such. Still, he did have a point about how little they've ever done together beforehand and if this really was all about helping his sister out, perhaps she wouldn't see the harm in going along with this little arrangement.

"Um...you know what, sure, I guess I can come, too." Jordan said.

"Really? You mean it? Oh, thank you!"

So relieved this turned out well in his favor, he thanked her further by excitedly bringing her over into a hug. It didn't last too long as he felt maybe it wasn't something she either expected or wanted.

"Oops, sorry about that." Lincoln said with a sheepish grin.

"Oh, heh…no problem, Lincoln. So, where is this date that your sister had planned going to be and when?" Jordan inquired.

"Actually, I don't know yet. I assumed she's going to call me or something about those plans. If not, I'll do the same to tell her that you're coming and she tells me when and where, I'll be sure to tell you before the day is over." Lincoln answered, "Sound like a plan?"

"Sure, whatever you say. Well, if that's all official, I guess I'll see you around." Jordan said.

"Yeah, you too." Lincoln reciprocated.

As Jordan headed on off, Lincoln whipped out his phone and went to find a quieter place to give Luna a call. But before he could dial her number, his phone started ringing and realized she was the one calling him now, which he answered promptly.

"Hey, Luna."

" _Yo, little bro! How's it hanging?"_ Luna asked.

"Pretty good. I was just about to call you with regards to what will happen tonight." Lincoln noted.

" _Well, that's exactly why I'm giving you a ring myself. But I'll let you go first. Did you find someone who'd be willing to tag along?"_

"I sure did. Didn't think she'd actually go along with it, but I guess thanks to a little mastery in convincing, she agreed."

" _Heh, wouldn't doubt_ _your skills over that! So, who's the gal you've convinced to come along? Is it that one girl who you and all your buds once scrambled over to win her over...what's her name again...oh, Stella, right?"_

"I wish that would be the case, but no. Instead, and I'm not sure if you're familiar with her, it's another one who I've been around from time to time. Her name is Jordan, but she is also known as Girl Jordan since there's also a boy in my school with that same first name."

" _Ah...I think I've once or twice heard you maybe say her name around me before, but you're right, I'm not_ _too_ _familiar with her. Still, it'd be cool to meet her nonetheless. Anyway, let me fill you in on what_ _the plans are tonight. I've talked with Sully earlier in the day and he's said that his idea is that we all go out to eat at the Burpin' Burger."_

"Burpin' Burger? Well, that's...different."

" _Yeah, but hey, this is my first date with Sully and I don't see the need in going all out from some swanky high-end eats in this case._ _So, does that sound all well and good?"_

"Well, if that's what is settled, then I guess that means I'm down with that. When do we head on over there?"

" _Ooh, that's right, I have to run that by Sully before the day's end. I was thinking probably maybe six in the evening. Thanks for reminding me, bro."_

"Sure, no problem, and I'll tell Girl Jordan all of that, too. So, if that's all, then I guess I'll let you go right now."

" _All right, cool. By the way, thanks again for doing this for me, Linc. You're truly a rockin' little dude for taking the time in helping me out here."_

"Hey, it's my pleasure, Luna. Well, see you bit a later on."

" _Yeah, you too. Later."_

Lincoln ended the call and put his phone away. Now having every major detail for tonight's outing have been settled, he went on with the rest of the school day until the end where he would inform Jordan of everything.

Likewise, Luna brought up with Sully the time she thought would be good for their date and he agreed with it.

As their respective school days came to an end, both Luna and Lincoln arrived home, informed their family about what was going on for them tonight and spent the next couple of hours keeping to themselves.

When the time was quickly approaching, Luna gave herself a small amount of gussying up while in front of the mirror in her and Luan's room. Nothing too over the top, but a little working over just for the sake of Sully.

She was a little into it to the point that she didn't notice Luan making her presence known until deciding to give her a motivational shoulder run.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Luna asked.

"Just thought you might need this in case you have any last minute jitters about your date with Sully." Luan replied.

"Well, I don't have much of that or bad vibes or any some such nerves." Luna said.

"This coming from the girl who needed our brother to come along with her?" Luan cheekily countered with.

"Hey, nothing wrong with having a wingman by your side, right?" Luna argued.

"Maybe not, but if that's what you needed, why not me out of curiosity? I could've helped out there." Luan said.

"Well, yeah, but I just thought having another dude would help better when I'm dating a boy here, so that's why I went with our bro." Luna explained.

Regardless, Luan ended her shoulder run of Luna and shrugged. However, she did have a sly grin on her face which Luna noticed on the reflection of the mirror.

"What?" Luna deadpanned.

"Oh, just been thinking how going to a fast food restaurant for a date does seem like a _cheesy_ choice to make…" Luan started off with, "But hey, it's not my position to judge here. I will say that when you and Lincoln do come back home, do make sure to _lettuce_ know how everything went and how much _bun_ you had. On the other hand, should things not go so well, remember that I'm here should you need a shoulder to _fry_ on and…"

"Okay, okay, enough already, brah, you got yours in." Luna interrupted in a tinge of annoyance, "Now if you'll excuse me…"

Having both being done in the mild amount of primping she did and all the puns she needed to hear now, Luna opted to head on off.

However, a hand on her shoulder from her sister made her look back over to see a warm smiling face.

"Hey, in all seriousness, I do wish the best for you and I truly am here for you if things do actually go south." Luan said in all sincerity.

Despite the punning nature of such, Luna always knew that Luan also doubled as a wonderfully supportive figure and was available to act as a confidant when need be. To remind her sister of that though actions, she reached over and hugged her.

"Thanks, sis. I think they'll be just fine, but good to hear the support either way." Luna said gratefully.

Luan briefly returned the hug on her end, then she let go and allowed Luna to be on her way.

Conveniently enough, Lincoln also emerged from his room and just like Luna, he too engaged in a minimal effort to look his best.

"Oh, hey Luna. Ready to head off?" Lincoln asked her.

"Sure am, bro. Let's get at it!" Luna emphatically answered.

With that, they both went downstairs, gave their family a heads up that they're on their way before heading out through the front door.

* * *

At the Burpin' Burger location that had been agreed upon earlier in the day, Sully patiently waited near the parking lot for the eventual arrival of Luna, her brother and whoever he also was bringing along.

"Hey, Sully!"

Luckily he didn't have to wait that much longer at all when he saw Luna running up to him, flinging her arms around and kissing him briefly.

"Whoa, uh...guess you're glad to see me, huh?" Sully asked, thrown off by the sudden showing of affection.

"Why wouldn't I be to see this dashing dude once more?" Luna responded.

Not one to argue with such a compliment, Sully grinned and leaned in to start another kiss, one that Luna was all too eager to return.

The only thing that broke up their lip lock was the sound of running footsteps followed by some heavy breathing as Lincoln came on to the scene.

"Luna...remind me the next time you plan to simply run off like that…"

Luna chuckled, "Heh...sorry about that, bro."

"Ah, so this must be your brother." Sully said.

"Indeed…" Luna acknowledged, reaching over and bring said brother over, "All right, Sully, this is my little brother, Lincoln, and bro, this dude's one of my other bandmates and now...well, a lot more than that, too!"

Sully laughed, "That's one way of putting it! But anyway, nice to meet you, Lincoln."

"Yeah, you too, Sully." Lincoln said, engaging in a brief handshake with him, "Though actually, I do think I recognize you from another time. Yeah, I think you were there during the second day of the whole friend card fiasco that engulfed me and my sisters."

"You know, I think you might be right about that." Sully said.

"Oh right, that time…" Luna said a little less enthused, "Yeah, that was a gnarly sitch. But that's neither then nor now, so let's focus on tonight."

Meanwhile, Lincoln took a second to look around and see if the fourth component of what is now technically a double date of sorts was around.

"I'm guessing you're wondering if your date has arrived yet?" Sully asked while grinning.

"Well, she's not really my _date_ , but only really someone who just agreed to come along so that I didn't have to be in the awkward position of being the only accompanying party to this." Lincoln clarified.

"Well, regardless, I wouldn't be able to know if she's arrived or not myself. I did see a couple of girls that looked to be about your age going in, but obviously there was no way I was gonna do something like asking if they're the one meeting up with us. That'd be _way_ too weird." Sully said, laughing briefly.

"I wouldn't know what she looks like either, dude." Luna admitted as well, "She's almost as much of a mystery to me as well, although I do know her name at the very least since my bro here mentioned it to me earlier during a quick phone call. But with that said, should we…"

"Hang on, I think she's here!"

Seeing a car pulling up, Lincoln could see Jordan in the backseat of it. The car stopped and she stepped out.

"Thanks, Mom and Dad! See you in about half an hour!"

She waived at her parents and then they left almost as soon as they arrived to drop her off.

"Hi Lincoln!"

"Hey, glad you made it." Lincoln said, greeting her as she approached the waiting trio, "Well, may as well get straight to it. Allow me to introduce you to first my older sister, Luna…"

"Hey, nice to meet you, little dudette!" Luna said.

"Okay, and this here would be Sully, who is her...well, I'd almost say boyfriend, but they've only started getting much closer last night, so I'm not quite sure what they officially see each other as now."

"Oh, don't worry about labels at the moment. But anyway, nice to meet you as well. So what's your name?" Sully inquired.

"Oh, her name is Jordan, but at school she's also known as Girl Jordan." Lincoln said on her behalf.

"But simply Jordan will do for all of you, including yourself as well, Lincoln." Jordan told everyone, "And yeah, nice meeting you both, too."

With introductions out of the way and the party of four complete, everyone headed on inside the eating establishment named for the all-American beef sandwich and an instinctive reflex.

"Say, how about I order everything while you three find us a table?" Sully suggested.

"Oh, sure. But I wouldn't mind paying myself." Luna mentioned.

"No, I insist. Besides, isn't it customary for the guy to be the one paying anyway?" Sully responded.

"Well...I guess so." Luna said.

After telling Sully what they liked to get, Luna, Lincoln and Jordan located a table close by the window and near the end of the restaurant. Given how sparsely populated it was currently, it didn't take along for Sully to rejoin with everything at hand and everyone taking a seat, with he and Luna on one end and Lincoln and Jordan on the other. What followed next was the simple combination of eating interspersed with casual conversation.

"So, uh...Jordan, have you and Lincoln been friends for long?" Luna inquired.

"Well, we've known each other for a while, but we really don't hang out that much. I'm not typically a part of his circle of friends that often, and actually, him bringing up the fact we haven't done much together ended up being one of the reasons he managed to convince me to do this in the first place." Jordan responded.

"Yeah, something like that." Lincoln acknowledged, "And on a related note, I may as well ask you the same thing regarding you and Luna, Sully. How long had you known her before you both took it to the next level?"

"Oh, pretty much since the beginning of high school is right around the time we first started hanging out. Eventually little by little we became friends and came together as part of a band." Sully replied.

"Whoa, you guys have your own band?" Jordan wondered with intrigue.

"Heck yeah we do! In fact, just a sec here…" Luna said.

She brought out her phone, scrolled around and held it up closer towards Jordan to show her a picture of said band.

"So besides myself and Sully, the other two you see here are Mazzy, who is the chick with the hair covering up her eyes and the second blonde girl with the neat-o little streak in her hair is Sam." Luna further explained.

"Cool!" Jordan said.

"Yeah, and on something of a side note, Luna used to be together with Sam." Lincoln pointed out.

"Together? Wait, you mean they were... _together_ together? As in...dating?" Jordan questioned in surprise.

"Ah...yeah, but I don't think we really need to dig deep into that, nor do I think you needed to bring that up at all, bro." Luna said, looking to him sort of uneasily.

"Oh, right, sorry…" Lincoln said regretfully to her before facing Jordan again, "You see, obviously given that she and Sully are together now, Luna split up with Sam last week and even though they are still friends, it's still a pretty sore subject for her to talk about and yeah, my apologies again to you, Luna, for even bringing it up and I'll drop it from here."

While a slight of awkwardness hung over for a moment, it did slowly dissipate and the group returned to more enjoyable discussion, even after everyone finished up with their meals.

As things began to wind down, Lincoln was taking a sip from his drink. Suddenly though, he got a mild cramp on his hand, causing the drink to fly out of his grip, right across from where he sat and landing right on Sully, dousing him all around as he shouted.

"Oh no, I'm sorry, Sully!" Lincoln said in a panic, "Here, let me give you a hand…"

Because Jordan sat next to him to his left and thus he couldn't get out as easily nor was he thinking clearly on the spot, Lincoln impulsively hopped up onto the table with some napkins at hand. However, he didn't notice the ketchup and mustard bottles nearby and inadvertently knocked both over and accidentally stepped on them, which resulted in both condiments being squirted out and sprayed onto Sully on top of that.

Since a portion of the contents of Lincoln's drink landed in his eyes, Sully was trying to wipe them down with his left hand while he aimlessly waved around his right arm in front of him. But in the midst of that, he swung around roughly and unintentionally made contact with Lincoln. As a result, the younger boy was knocked over, the back of his head clipping the edge of the table before falling down right onto the floor. Naturally, this horrified both of the girls.

"Lincoln!" Luna shouted.

She scrambled right out of her seat, as did Jordan as well, pretty much ignoring Sully's own plight in the process.

"Hey, you all right? You…"

But right in the middle of speaking, Luna gasped when she saw just from the corner of her eye what appeared to be a very small stain of blood on the edge of the table. Frantically, she checked around her brother's head until she noticed a little trickle of blood that colored his normally pristine white hair in a speck of sanguine just above the back.

"Dude, your head's split open!"

Although "split" was perhaps an on the spot exaggeration from an understandably concerned sister, Lincoln's head did nonetheless have a tiny wound that'd been opened up from the contact made on the table.

"Here, I'll try to help out with the bleeding." Jordan said, reaching for those same napkins that Lincoln had with him seconds earlier.

While she tried in tending to Lincoln, who was groaning in pain and taking his time attempting to sit up, Luna on the other hand trained her sights back to Sully. However, instead of the compassion and sisterly worry she had for Lincoln, she looked at Sully with contempt.

Just as Sully finally felt like he wiped off whatever remnants of beverage out of his eyes, he suddenly felt another round of such being drenched on him. He looked to see Luna with ever increasing anger on her face.

"Hey, what was that for?" Sully asked in annoyance.

"Why did you do _that_ to my little bro?!" Luna fired back, pointing down.

Sully sat up just enough so he could now see Lincoln in a sitting position and noticed the little amount of blood on his hair and head that Jordan was doing her best to clean and sop up.

"Whoa, hey, is he okay?" Sully wondered following a gasp.

He tried coming closer, only to be taken off guard by being rather violently shoved back by Luna.

"No, don't even _think_ about coming near him! You did this after the way you whacked him off the table!"

"Whacked? What? I...Luna, that was only an accident! Seriously...I-"

While Sully tried to approach Luna as he spoke to explain what happened, now he felt her smacking him right across with a stinging slap.

"Oh, screw you! Don't give me any excuses, Sully! Accident or not, nobody hurts my bro like that and thinks they can be cool with me!" Luna yelled, seething and prodding him with a shaky finger, "In fact, me and him are out of here!"

Barely keeping from absolutely losing it even further, she went back over to Lincoln, practically pushing Jordan to the side with her arm, then she helped him up slowly to his feet, keeping a hand on the napkins pressed down lightly on his head. She started walking away with Lincoln by her side, but not before giving Sully a final disdainful glare.

"Sully...don't bother calling me or talking to me, and you sure as hell won't expect me to be at the jam session tomorrow…"

With those snarling words said, she finally left the restaurant with Lincoln.

At the same time, Sully gathered himself and his thoughts over the rapid series of events that just unfolded. His first act was to finally look down and properly see his clothes stained in ketchup and mustard, plus being soaked from his head down to his lap in two beverages, one accidental and other intentional.

"Well...guess there will be some laundry done tonight…"

He sighed and he turned just to see Jordan handing him some napkins.

"Thanks…"

He took a moment in wiping down some of everything off his clothes to the best of his ability, and once he did what he could, he simply placed the napkins on the table, then looked back over to Jordan.

"I'm so sorry you had to see all of that." Sully said lamentably.

"So am I…" Jordan replied, "And if my opinion matters in any way, I don't think you meant to hurt Lincoln like that at all."

"Well, thanks, and I really wasn't, but I guess Luna had different ideas…."

As Sully sighed again, Jordan was just about to almost sat back down on her seat from just before everything went down. However, she saw out the window the headlights belonging to her parents' car, showing they were here to pick her up.

"Oh, my ride's here, so I guess that means I'll be leaving now." Jordan said.

"Oh, sure, go right ahead." Sully told her.

She hopped off her seat and passed by Sully, though she did look at him one last time.

"Hey, I don't know if we'll ever see each other again, but regardless of what happened, it was actually nice to meet you and I do hope everything turns out okay between you, Luna and Lincoln."

"Yeah, that's the hope." Sully agreed, nervously chuckling, "Well, uh...bye, Jordan."

"Bye, Sully…"

Meanwhile, Luna and Lincoln were making their walk back home. During the time since they left, Lincoln tried offering to hold down the napkins over the wound on his head, but Luna insisted that she'll keep on doing that until they were home.

"How are you doing, bro?" Luna asked.

"Okay...maybe? My head is throbbing, though." Lincoln replied, holding the side of his head.

"Well, hang on for just a few and we'll get you all checked out and taken care of, okay?" Luna told him.

In the meantime, she made a quick check of the wound and thankfully it didn't appear to be bleeding anymore, though enough blood had seeped out to cover up a patch of his hair in red.

"On the bright side, I can probably safely say I overreacted in saying your dome got split open and that you only really got nothing more than a little gash instead." Luna said.

"I guess I can call that good news…'' Lincoln said, groaning a little again, "However, speaking of overreacting and I may be risking getting you all riled up again, but don't you think that's how you acted towards Sully? I mean, I didn't catch or hear everything because of how much pain in the moment I was in, but I did at least see the part where you slapped him and got all up in his face."

"I'm sorry, dude, but I think I was justified in coming down on Sully like I did. He really hurt you majorly!" Luna replied.

"But you're making it sound like he went out of his way to hurt me and I don't that's the case at all!" Lincoln tried in arguing, "In fact, maybe I share a good portion of the blame for being overzealous in the way I approached him while trying to help out after I spilled my drink on him."

"Yeah, well...you wouldn't have gotten your noggin bloodied up in any way had he not so recklessly wiped you out in any event!" Luna countered contentiously, "And after that, I may give some serious thought into if I even want to be around that dude anymore!"

"Wait, what? Luna, are you implying what I think you are?" Lincoln asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Luna asked back.

"Whoa, let's take a step back here, though! I don't think you should…"

"Bro, please…"

"But I-"

"Lincoln, enough! I've said my word on this and it's final! Just drop it, okay?!"

Like he had just told her and worried about, Lincoln did pretty much raise her dander up again, so for her sake, he remained quiet in the issue.

However, not even a minute after the fact, she did at least take a breath to calm herself down enough.

"But right now, the only thing that's important is getting you back home and making sure you'll be all a-okay."

Eventually, they did arrive home and the moment they stepped into the house, they were greeted by the sight of an eagerly anticipating Lori, Leni and Luan, a somewhat similar sight to when Luna came back home the day before.

"Hey, you guys!" Leni greeted them.

"So, how'd things go?" Lori asked.

"And yes, before you ask, we'll admit this time around we were waiting up on you two." Luan added, "But anyway, like Lori just said, how…"

Just then, as did both her oldest sisters as well, Luan paused when she noticed the bloodied napkins that Luna held down on Lincoln's head and in an instant, she plus Lori and Leni rushed over to their brother.

"OM-gosh, what happened, Linky?!" Leni worriedly asked.

"Can we see, Luna?" Lori requested.

Luna nodded and pulled the napkins away, taking a second to throw them away. Meanwhile, the other three sisters got a closer look at Lincoln to see the bloodstained portion of his hair and small gash on his head, causing them to gasp.

"Oh, are you okay, Lincoln?" Luan asked concernedly, "How did this happen?"

"Well, you can thank that no-good bogus…urrgh, so-and-so Sully for that!"

Everyone looked over to see Luna promptly returning to the scene, her eyebrows scrunched up, arms folded and teeth gritted.

"Wait...Sully did this?" Lori asked in disbelief.

"Now, hold on, don't jump to conclusions, you guys!" Lincoln spoke up, "Sully didn't…."

"Oh, come on, bro! Stop defending him already!" Luna demanded, her temper rising again, "And don't go on about this 'accident' angle again. Just…!"

"Whoa, Luna, calm down or to literally again use one of your favorite adages, chill out!" Lori implored to her.

"Don't tell me to chill out after the night I've had! Actually, screw it, I'm done talking about it anyway, so leave me alone!"

And with a frustrated growl, Luna stormed upstairs, into her room and slammed the door. Instinctively, Luan rushed to follow after her sister to see if she could have any luck in talking to her.

"Okay, let's forget about whatever happened for now and focus on seeing what we can do for you, Lincoln." Lori said, turning to her only remaining available sister, "Leni, take him over to the couch for me, okay?"

"Of course." Leni promptly agreed.

As Lori went to gather whatever supplies were warranted, Leni guided Lincoln over and both sat down on the couch, and next after that, she wrapped up her brother into a hug.

"Lincoln, I have to know. Sully didn't, like, actually hurt you like Luna said, did he?" Leni asked.

"No, Leni, I'm telling you now that isn't the case. He didn't intentionally go out of his way to harm me in any way, shape or form." Lincoln definitively said, "In fact, what really happened was…"

While this was going on, Luan made it up to and inside the room she shared with Luna. She opened the door and almost immediately, her eyes were locked with that of a glare from her sister.

"I'm not in the mood, Luan..." Luna grumbled.

"Luna, I think we should talk about this, though." Luan said.

"Well, I don't want to, so leave me alone!"

"But what about when I said you can come to me if things go south, which you agreed that's what you'd do? So how…"

" _Get out_ _ta_ _here!_ "

Swiftly after that strained declaration, Luna pushed Luan out of their room and slammed the door shut.

"Hey, come on, Luna!" Luan said, knocking on the door.

She got no response, so she tried risking going inside again only to for the doorknob to be jiggled due to it having been locked now.

"Dang it, don't be like this! Come and talk me, please!"

Again, no response came from Luna.

"Hey, you are gonna let me back in at least when bedtime comes, right?"

Still no response came about. Sighing, Luan realized she probably had no other choice in the matter than to leave her sister alone for the moment.

"Okay, clearly you're too _hot_ and bothered to talk, so I'll let you _chill_ out by yourself."

She chuckled lightly, but she trailed off into another sigh as she turned and headed back downstairs, perhaps hoping Lincoln was going to be more forthcoming about whatever happened that got Luna so enraged.

* * *

"And that's pretty much the gist of what Luna told me."

" _Yeesh...that sounds a bit more extreme than what Sully said when talking to me, but not too far off either_."

Some time later on in the evening, Sam and Mazzy were in the middle of a phone conversation after both having been informed by Luna and Sully respectively in regards to the calamitous events that befell and sent their first official date coming to a disastrous end.

" _So does that mean Luna has broken up with Sully already?_ " Mazzy asked.

"No, she hasn't, at least not now based on what she's said, though she appears to be giving it some serious thought." Sam replied.

" _And all this over what Sully claims was a freak accident involving Luna's little brother? That seems way over the top if you ask me."_

"You might certainly think that, and I'd honestly agree, but you might want to understand something else, Mazzy. During the times Luna and I were together, she would speak so highly of Lincoln, saying how she'd do anything for him and I guess by extension as the case for relevant events tonight, she'll interpret even an accident act of him getting hurt by someone else as a nearly unforgivable act."

" _Huh...really? Still, that sounds just a bit over the top._ "

"Again, I won't disagree, but I'm only telling you what she's previously said in times past. Anyway, because of all this, Luna has also bluntly informed me she won't be coming to our jam session tomorrow if Sully's gonna be there."

" _Well, we won't have to worry about any bad blood boiling over, because Sully has told me he isn't coming either assuming Luna was gonna be there and not wanting to get her all mad at him all over again."_

"Did he? Well, knowing that, there's sort of no point in holding it at all if it's gonna only be the two of us. Guess it's officially canceled."

" _Yeah, guess there's no two ways about it. Still, as crazy as this may sound, I don't think it's the end for the both of them."_

"Actually, I don't think it's too crazy either. Like I said, Luna stopped short of saying she and Sully are finished together, so there could be some hope. Perhaps this was just a really bad spat where some time apart can have things simmer down and maybe by the time we all run into each other again at school, they'll be back on speaking terms."

" _I hope so, too. Well, maybe I should let you go right now. It is getting late right about now, so...talk to you later, Sam."_

"Sure, of course. Bye, Mazzy."

Right as Sam hung up, she shook her head and flopped back first on her bed. No sooner did she and Luna come fully to terms about the end of anything beyond friendship between them the other day did Luna find herself in the beginnings of a new relationship with Sully that now is already being tested.

In a strange way, Sam couldn't help but chuckle despite the craziness of it all.

"Love really is a strange thing…"

As she said that, she heard a knocking on her door.

"Yeah?"

"Uh, you coming over soon, Sam?"

"Oh yeah, sure, I'm on my way, Simon."

Her conversation with Mazzy made Sam lose track of time and almost forgot her usual nightly act of being by the side of her little brother Simon and helping him settle in for bed.

Heading out of her room and down the hall, Sam arrived in Simon's room where he resettled under the covers of his bed and was quickly joined by her sitting on the edge of his bed close to him.

"Hey, sorry for the delay." Sam told him.

"It's okay, Sam…" Simon said.

She smiled as scooted over closer to tuck Simon in. However, she could sort of sense a look of concern in his eyes.

"Hey, is there something wrong, Simon?" Sam asked.

"Well, I didn't want to say anything, but since you asked...I hope you're still not sad about you and Luna not being together anymore." Simon responded.

Sam laughed lightly and softly rubbed his hair, "Well, I appreciate the concern, but you don't have to worry about me too much. I've told you before that me and her are still friends...though I will admit that I am worried for her over a different reason."

"Huh? About what?" Simon curiously wondered.

"You know how yesterday that I told you Luna was now together with one of my other friends, Sully, remember?" Sam said.

Simon nodded, "Uh-huh."

"Well, I got done talking to her and my other friend Mazzy over the phone, which are the reasons why I'm a little late in coming over here in case you're curious, and...well, let's just say things between them have already hit a bit of sore spot to put it lightly."

"They are? You mean...are they…?"

"No, no, they aren't splitting up, at least I'm hoping that's not the case. Although I'll confess right here and now to feeling more than a bit surprised and maybe even chafed that Luna did find herself in the arms of somebody else only a week after she and I called it quits on our end, I'd hate for her to have another relationship come to an end so soon should it come to be. I'd especially hate it if she goes on to blame herself like she did when we talked it over the other day in our case."

When Sam reached the end of her statement, she sighed, moved just that bit closer to Simon and put an arm around him.

"I'm sorry if I'm leaving you in somewhat of a down mood before you go to sleep, Simon. I'm just only being honest here."

"That's okay, Sam. I hope things get better for Luna, too...and maybe one day you'll find someone else you'll want to be with as well."

Smiling at her little brother's optimism, Sam brought her other arm around to hug him, which Simon also returned on his end.

"Thanks, Simon…"

She pulled away, gave him a kiss on the cheek and wished him good night.

* * *

Saturday, 3:30 PM.

The day at the Loud house proceeded about as normally as one could possibly put it as such. Of course, the one thing looming over much of the day was continued worry over Luna after the night before. She did come on down in the morning and issued what could only be seen as a half-hearted apology for her reaction upon coming home, but other than that, she didn't say anything else over the matter and nor did anyone else bring anything up in relation to those events afterward.

However, as the afternoon got to the midway point, Luna hadn't really been seen by anyone else in her family since she went up to her room a while earlier. Because of this and despite fears she might unleash another verbal tirade from her sister should the subject matter be mentioned again, Luan decided to take it upon herself to check up on Luna.

Arriving at the door, she took a breath and knocked.

"Luna?" Luan gently inquired.

Like last night, she didn't get any response, but that didn't matter. With the door luckily not being locked this time around, she turned the knob and let herself in.

When Luan stepped inside and shut the door behind her, the first thing she saw was Luna laying down facing away on her top bunk bed.

"Luna?" Luan again said.

Even with her younger sister inside, Luna still didn't so much as flinch, let alone give a response.

Despite this, Luan walked over, climbed up the ladder leading to the top bunk bed where her older sister laid and sat close to her.

"Luna, are you okay?"

Finally, Luna shifted over enough to face Luan. Upon that happening, Luan saw some worrying details. The most clear and obvious is that it was apparent Luna had been crying pretty recently. The other detail is that she also was clutching at something and upon closer inspection, it was the jacket that Sully had given her from the night before where they had officially became a pair.

"Luna, I still don't know if you're in the mood for talking about what happened…" Luan began saying, "But seeing you like this now, I _have_ to at least give it another try regardless of…"

But she didn't get a chance to finish her thought when all of a sudden, Luna shot on up and flung her arms around Luan, bursting into a new round of crying.

Naturally, Luan hardly foresaw such a reaction coming from her sister. But that didn't matter. Right now, the fact Luna was showing this sort of emotion in a sense acted as a positive sign she'd be more willing to open up more than previously. Until then though, Luan wrapped her arms around her bawling sister and held on, allowing her to release what had to be pent up sorrow that must've been building since last night.

After a sufficient period of time had elapsed, Luna's cries shifted to gentler sniffling and eventually she pulled out of her sister's arms.

"I acted like such a total bonehead the other night…."

"Hey, it's all right, Luna. I didn't take personal offense to how you were to me." Luan said.

"Well, yeah, I was way too harsh to you, but that's not entirely what I meant, Luan…" Luna clarified, taking a second to wipe down her eyes, "I acted like a total...you-know-what to Sully. I should've known from the start he never meant harm to our bro…"

She released a prolonged shuddered sigh and looked her sister in the eyes.

"Luan, give it to me straight...am I too overprotective of Lincoln?"

"Well...I don't know the best way to answer that if I'm being honest. I mean, isn't it the inherit instinct of a big sister to be protective of their younger siblings whenever they get hurt, regardless of the context of it being an accident?" Luan questioned in return, "That's how I'd react."

"True...but I ask because I realize the way I flipped out on Sully was totally wrong on my part sorta because I'm such a hypocrite as well." Luna said.

"What do you mean by that?" Luan asked.

"I mean that I laid it down hard on Sully for him accidentally hurting Linc while I've actually done some intentional and real gnarly harm to our bro on more than a few occasions. Granted, I can't think of a time that I may have made him bleed, but still…" Luna responded, groaning lightly.

For a moment, she looked away in shame over both admissions. However, her gaze was made to be returned by Luan, who had gently put her hand on her sister's cheek and turned Luna's head back over.

"Luna, I don't think you should be laying down this much guilt on yourself. First on the topic of Lincoln, yes, I can attest that there have been times you have been rough on him, but so have I and we've both done wrong to all our siblings on top of that. But at least we always make it up to them whenever we've harmed them in any way, then we try our hardest not to repeat those same mistakes again and be better to them."

Next, Luan put both of her hands on the shoulders of Luna.

"Now furthermore with regards to Sully, I do have to ask one thing...are you actually still giving it thought about ending things with him?"

Luna groaned uncomfortably, not necessarily because of the question itself, but out of renewed guilt that she even gave that idea a thought in the first place. Like she confirmed to herself as she recalled share one of their first kisses, Sully made her feel so validated when he confessed his feelings to her following her self doubt over everything with Sam, and was she really prepared to give all it up so soon all because of the cascade of unfortunate events that played out? Additionally, the fact that even with the injuries he sustained, Lincoln admirably held no ill will towards Sully and he understood no bad intentions were meant. Taking all of this into account, Luna had her answer.

"No, I take back any thought of doing that. The trouble I have now is if he would want to still be with me after how I treated him. I wouldn't blame him at all if he's too anxious to even so much as be near me at all."

"I don't think that could be that case. If what Lincoln told me last night is true, Sully doesn't sound like potentially holds any animosity against you. In fact, if you want my advice, maybe you can wait until this Monday during school and can perhaps talk to him to see if you can work things out from there." Luan suggested.

Upon hearing that advice and further taking in everything that was said before, Luna finally had a small grin come across her lips. Her sister here may be every bit an occasionally tiring jokester, pun cracker and prank puller, but like she assessed last night, Luan was also deep down a truly supportive figure and confidant who was willing and able to be available for whomever needed her in a time and place of choosing.

So appreciative was Luna, she reached out and fondly hugged her.

"Maybe you're right about that. I'll try giving a shot. With that said, thanks for this, Luan, and I'm sorry again for last night." Luna said, pulling back to face her sister, "I don't know if I tell you this enough, but you truly are a sweet little sis."

"I try to be". Luan said with her own smile.

After leaning up a little to give her older sister a quick kiss on the forehead, Luan thought it would be best to leave Luna alone again, at least this time knowing she's feeling a whole lot better than before.

As she was just leaving the room, Luan then turned to see Lincoln having coming up the stairs.

"Hey Lincoln, what brings you up here?" Luan curiously asked.

"Well, if I'm being totally honest, I was hoping to know what if any luck you had in trying to talk to Luna." Lincoln answered, rubbing the back of his neck, "However, I understand if you don't want to tell me assuming you have gotten any progress done on that front."

"Actually, she did open up finally, and I guess since this does involve last night which you were a part of, I may as well tell you as well." Luan said.

"Oh, okay, well that's good to hear. Should we want to talk about it, I suggest we perhaps go over to my room as I don't know if Luna would want to overhear us being so close to you guys' room." Lincoln suggested.

"Sure, we can do that."

Lincoln lead the way as he and Luan went into his room and sat down on his bed.

"So, how is Luna doing?" Lincoln asked.

"Well, better in the sense she's not really mad anymore, though not so much in that she is now real sad about everything. She now has nothing but regrets over how she reacted to Sully accidentally pushing you off the table." Luan answered.

"Really? Does she? Does that also mean she's not thinking about breaking up with him?"

"No, she isn't, but she is worried Sully might not want to be near her because he'd be to nervous in maybe saying or doing the wrong thing to her. I did suggest to her that perhaps this Monday at school she could try talking to him again and going from there."

While he was listening to Luan, Lincoln came off as surprised by the sudden turnaround in Luna's emotional state and though he hated to hear her being saddened by everything, there was a sense of relief in that her and Sully's relationship wasn't totally on the outs at the moment. In fact, the last portion Luan said about how Luna should wait until the beginning of the next school week actually gave him an idea. Even Luan seemed to notice based on how he conveyed things by his expression.

"Oh, I know that look anywhere, Lincoln. The man with the plan's gears are turning, aren't they?" Luan asked while grinning.

"Indeed, because what if Luna doesn't have to wait until Monday to see Sully again and mend everything up?" Lincoln posited.

"Oh? Like how?"

"You'll see. First, let's have a talk with the rest of our family."

Though lost in exactly what her brother had in mind, Luan complied as she followed him out his room, and just as they did, Luna also happened to come on out from her room as well.

"Hey, Luna. You doing any better?" Luan asked her.

"Maybe? Just a little?" Luna admitted ambiguously, then she also noticed Lincoln, "Oh, hey there, bro. Since you're here now, mind if I have a quick chat with you? And you can stay, Luan, because it's not like it's super top secret or anything."

"Okay, as long as it's quick like you said." Lincoln told her.

"Oh, it will be." Luna assured.

She came closer to her brother and placed both hands on his shoulders.

"Listen, I'm sorry for how I went off on you last night both on our way back and after we were home. I wasn't really mad at you so much as I still was simmering at the heat of the moment against Sully, who I now totally understand wasn't going out of his way to hurt you. So again, I'm sorry, Linc."

He smiled up at her, causing her to do the same back at him, and that was when they also shared a hug.

"Hey, it's all good, Luna. I'm just glad at least know you're not totally angry at Sully anymore." Lincoln said.

"Same here, dude. Speaking of, I'm gonna give it a little time like Luan here told me and maybe we'll see what goes on from there." Luna said, sounding much more hopeful than before.

She let go of Lincoln and then looked at both him and Luan.

"Hey, do you mind doing me a favor and letting our fam know that I'll be stepping on out for a while?" Luna requested, "Don't worry, I'm fine. It's just that I feel like I need some time to myself outside of our house."

"Yeah, we can do that." Lincoln responded right away.

Giving them another smile, Luna headed downstairs and out the front door. Meanwhile, Lincoln turned to Luan and had his own smile.

"Looks like my plan just got a major boost. Now come on, Luan, let's let our family in on things."

"Well, all right. You'll be filling me in every bit as much as the rest of them." Luan noted.

"True…"

* * *

About 5:00 PM, right as the sun was at the beginning stages of preparing to set, Luna made her way back home after her time to herself.

Right away though, she noticed Vanzilla being absent from the driveway. It sent her curiosity going as to why that was the case. She assumed that she'll maybe get an answer upon returning inside.

But when Luna did in fact step back inside the house, she looked around to see barely anybody around except only for Lincoln in the living room.

"Hey, Luna. Had a nice stroll or whatever it was you did?" Lincoln inquired to her.

"Uh, sure thing, dude. Say, who took off with Vanzilla, and on top of that, is there anyone else around?" Luna asked, taking another quick look around.

"Nope, it's gonna be just you and me for now. Everyone's out on the town together until, oh...about 8:00." Lincoln responded.

"Really? That long? So...what's gonna happen with grub tonight? They gonna bring something back home with them?"

"No, they're eating out as part of their night out. But don't worry, because I've got dinner plans all mapped out for us. So until then, you can just keep to yourself if you'd like."

If Luna was telling herself the truth, absolutely none of this made sense to her. The idea that most of her family heading out together for a few hours while leaving just herself and Lincoln behind without anything resembling advance notice ranked among the most far-fetched things she can remember. But whatever the reasoning, it's happened and she may as well roll with it.

"Uh...okay, little bro. Whateves." Luna said while shrugging.

With that, she chose to head on upstairs and into her room for the time being.

Once it was clear enough that Luna was out of sight, Lincoln got out his phone and made a pair of quick calls.

"Hey, just wanted to tell you that Luna appears to not suspect a thing. Yeah, 7:00 is the time that's perfect."

"Yeah, around 7:00 is good. Thanks again for agreeing to do this on such short notice."

Once he was finished with those calls, he also kept to himself for the next hour and a half.

When 6:30 became the time, he headed to his room and performed a quick change of clothes.

Right as Lincoln was done with that, he left his room and coincidentally enough again for the second time today, Luna also stepped out and saw the change of attire.

"Whoa, what's with the formal getup, bro?" Luna asked.

That formal getup also happened to be instantly recognizable to her as well.

"Hey, aren't those the butler duds that Lola once forced you to wear during the time she threatened you and all of us with spilling our secrets to Mom and Dad unless we did all that stuff for her?"

"Yes, they are, Luna, and to answer your first question, it's because tonight will be very special." Lincoln replied, slicking back his hair, "I'd at first thought about donning my blue suit that I use for presentations, but I needed to go with something more fitting for the occasion."

"Occasion? What are you talking about, dude?"

"Oh, you'll see in due to time. Now, while you're here, I must request that you also put on something equally befitting. I'd recommend that dress, those earrings and the shoes you wore when we went to Lucy's poetry reading festival at the Royal Woods Theater some time ago."

"Uh...why though? What's the deal here, Lincoln? Can't you just give it to me straight?"

Sighing, Lincoln walked up to Luna and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Luna, I know I'm being really vague with the details here, but please trust me on this. If all goes to plan, I think it'll be worth it...because _you_ are worth it."

The information was still scarce, but yet that extra emphasis from her little bro about being worth it was really heartening for Luna to hear, and whatever this may be, those words gave her all the assurance she needed to go along.

"Okay, I'll do it."

She briefly put one hand of hers over that belonging to Lincoln's that was still on her shoulder and squeezed it, then she headed back into her room. While she did that, Lincoln returned downstairs so he could get to work on the dinner portion of his plan.

In her room, Luna found the dress, earrings and shoes that Lincoln suggested she put on and applied them each. During that time, she mediated still over what he could be planning for her. The only theory that came to mind was perhaps with everyone else in their family away, he was choosing to treat her to a simple evening together as a way to both cheer her up after last night and just maybe in general appreciation of her. If that was the case, then Luna couldn't help but have such a high level of pride and warmth in her heart for Lincoln.

Now dressed to the nines much like her brother was, Luna gave herself a quick once over in the mirror and believed everything was satisfactory. She would then exit her room and head downstairs, all but then immediately being greeted by Lincoln.

"Well, don't you amazing?" Lincoln complemented.

"Aw, you're too kind, bro." Luna said with a blush, "Anyway, not that I don't know if you want me to guess as to what you're aiming for here, but…"

"Ah, ah, ah…" Lincoln interrupted, "No guesses. It must be a complete and total surprise. But in the meantime, come with me."

With a wave of his hand, he encouraged Luna to follow him into the dining room. Looking around, she saw quite the setup that she presumed he did earlier on.

Lincoln continued to guide Luna until they reached one of the ends of the table and motioned for her to take a seat. Like a true gentleman, he first pulled the chair back for her before she properly sat down.

"Wow, you're really going above and beyond here, aren't you?" Luna asked him with a small laugh.

"Hey, anything for one of my many amazing sisters." Lincoln said wholeheartedly.

Again, Luna was only feeling ever increasingly moved inside by all that Lincoln was doing so far.

And then suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, I'll get it. I do believe the most important component to this evening has arrived."

As Lincoln walked up to the front door, Luna got very curious as to what he could be suggesting over saying that.

"Ah, good evening, sir. Your lady awaits you."

With such a formal manner of speaking, Lincoln stepped aside to let Luna see who had arrived. Needless to say, she was stunned.

"Sully?"

Indeed, the young man who Luna had rapidly blossoming relationship that hit a huge snag the night before was now presently here and came up closer to her.

On this night, aside from his hair, he looked completely different. In place of his rock-inspired attire was a white long sleeved dress shirt, a tie with an alternating blue and red pattern, black dress pants and similarly colored shoes.

"Please, have a seat, Sully." Lincoln advised, "And in the meantime, how about you and Luna chat while I'll have dinner ready as soon as it's done."

As Lincoln headed for the kitchen, Sully sat down on an available chair right next to Luna.

"Wow, uh...you certainly clean yourself up nice, dude." Luna said to him.

"Heh, thanks. I don't usually wear anything this formal. Heck, I didn't really do my hair up much all that, either." Sully said, chuckling a bit before clearing his throat, "Anyway...you look stunning if I do say so myself."

"Oh...thank you. I'm the same way in that I'm not usually one to put on fancy dresses except for special occasions...and my bro certainly wasn't kidding when he said tonight was gonna be special." Luna said, grinning and blushing.

But after that exchange of compliments and shared similarities of infrequent formal wear, the conversation material ran dry. Truthfully, for as much as this was a pleasant surprise for both, there was a clear air of awkwardness between Sully and Luna. But at the same time though, there may as well be no better time than to get the obvious out of the way.

"All right, I think I know what needs to be said. Listen, Luna, I owe you an apology for last night and I…" Sully started saying.

"Wait, no, Sully…." Luna interrupted, putting on of her hands over his, "I should be the one apologizing here. I shouldn't have blown up on you like I did. I wasn't thinking with a clear head and only reacted in the manner I chose to because I can admit to being sometimes too overprotective of Lincoln, so when he got hurt the way he did, I assumed the worst of your intentions. But I know after giving it some thought and a little extra help from my sister Luan, I understand how wrong I was and again, I'm sorry."

"Oh, well...wasn't quite expecting that." Sully admitted off guard, "However, that being said, I still like to apologize on my end. I swear to you right now I never meant for Lincoln to get hurt like that. By the way, how is he doing?"

"Well, he appears to be doing fine. Hasn't really been complaining or anything like that. Guess he is made of tougher stuff than he is." Luna answered.

That response garnered chuckles from both, and by the end, Sully took the hand of Luna's that she had over his into his own.

"So, that's good to hear and since we both regret what happened last night, is it safe to say we're still good and that you want to, you know...continue what we have going?"

Luna did not have to hear him ask that twice. Almost as soon as he said that, she practically flung her arms around him and kissed him emphatically.

"Does that answer your question?" Luna asked.

All Sully did next was smile, then he leaned in to initiate another kiss, something Luna was all too ready to return.

The only thing that would suddenly put a halt to them renewing their affections for one another was when the doorbell rang again.

"Oh, I'll get that!" Lincoln declared.

He came out of the kitchen and walked right past Luna and Sully, both of which were understandably confused about whoever this could be at the door.

"Ah, welcome. You're just in time."

After greeting whoever it was, Lincoln let them inside and he turned back over.

"Guys, I do believe you remember...Jordan, right?

Forgoing the usual two-part name she's best known for, Lincoln revealed that it was indeed Jordan who had just arrived, and was also garbed for the occasion in a yellow dress.

"Well...hi there." Jordan said with a small wave.

"See, I thought it'd be nice if all of us to get back together again and have the night that should have been." Lincoln explained to the surprised pair watching on, "Now anyway, we have a seat ready for you…"

He guided Jordan to the table and like he did with Luna, he pulled a chair for Jordan, one that was next to Luna and across from Sully, and she took a seat.

"Now, everything should almost be ready, so hang on for a couple minutes more." Lincoln said.

With that, he again returned to the kitchen for a moment.

"Well...guess we are seeing each other again, huh?" Sully remarked, referencing what Jordan told him after the unfortunate events of yesterday.

"Yeah, guess so. Who'd ever thunk it, right?" Jordan said, "And I'm guessing things between you two are good again?"

"Oh, ain't that the truth." Luna responded, looking over to Sully with a big smile on her face.

A couple more minutes later, Lincoln made two trips in bringing over four servings of what he had prepared for the evening: a small steak already conveniently been cut up into bite-sized pieces, paired up with mashed potatoes and peas on the side. Not quite highfalutin gourmet fare, but the best of what an eleven year old can whip up for an occasion such as this. To compliment everything, he also gathered up four glasses of water as well.

In the time throughout their meal, lively conversation and high spirits were shared between the four, and nary a dour moment or off-kilter instance spoiled anything. It really was as Lincoln said the night they wished could have been what happened previously.

Upon the conclusion of dinner about a half hour later, Lincoln took it upon himself to gather up all the dishes and put them in the sink to be washed later. It was also around this time that Jordan had to leave rather abruptly due to having a curfew set by her parents that she was shy of breaking. As a result, she wished everyone goodbye as Lincoln walked her out the front door just right on time for her parents to come pick her up.

A few minutes later, Sully would also take his leave. Before going, he shared one last kiss and embrace with Luna, then he too would be on his way home.

Closing the front door as he left, Luna sighed contently, then she looked over to see Lincoln sitting down and relaxing on the couch. He had taken off the jacket portion of his suit and undid the bow tie as well.

"Well, we certainly had quite the night did we, bro?" Luna said, coming on over and sitting next to him.

"You can say that again." Lincoln agreed.

He let out a relaxing sigh of his own, and no sooner did he do that did he then feel both of Luna's hands on his shoulders, causing him to look at her.

"Lincoln, I gotta tell you..this has to be one of the best things you've ever done for me, right up there with you simply being in my life." Luna told him with the utmost sincerity, "Though I do have to ask how in the world you managed to get Sully over here in the first place."

"Well, I'll admit this is the sketchiest part of my plan that I enacted. You see, not too long after you went out on your stroll earlier this afternoon, I asked Luan to look around you guys' room to see if you kept any phone numbers written down of whoever you hung around with. Luckily she did find something like that, so we didn't have to resort to seriously violating your privacy by like going through your phone and checking the contacts." Lincoln explained, laughing anxiously.

"Uh...well, whatever. Certainly anything would be better than doing that, at least not with my say so first." Luna conceded.

Nevertheless, she brought Lincoln into her arms for an appreciative hug and an accompanying kiss on his cheek.

"But anyway, thank you so much for doing this, little bro. I promise I'll never forget this and I'll will return the favor to you at some point."

"It was all my pleasure, Luna. You deserve being with someone who clearly feels for you the way Sully does."

He returned the hug just as Luna only tightened it from her side of things.

Finally, after this period of sibling love and appreciation for one another, they eventually let go.

"Say, since you helped me and Sully get back on the right track, maybe one of the ways I can possibly return the favor is by helping you out with Jordan." Luna suggested, ruffling around her brother's hair, "You and her seem to gel well together from what I can gather."

"Uh…appreciate the thought and sentiment, but I don't really see her in the way you're implying." Lincoln said, again laughing anxiously, "If you're talking about anything I may have said or done to her tonight, I was only just doing a nice thing by making sure she had every bit of a good night like what should have happened yesterday as you and Sully were having."

"Well, I can certainly get that, but hey, don't dismiss the idea right away, dude. Up until two days ago, I never gave the idea of Sully and I being a pair a passing thought, so you never know." Luna said.

"Eh...I guess I can't discount anything, true. But right now, I think I like the way things are between me and her as they are." Lincoln said.

This among other topics of conversation and simply relaxing together is what Luna and Lincoln did to pass the time by for the next little while.

Eventually, the rest of the their family came home and were told of the delightful news about Luna's reinvigorated relationship with Sully thanks to Lincoln's efforts on that front. Since everyone between them had such big nights, they all opted to go ahead and make preparations for bedtime, regardless if most of them were going to turn in for the night right away.

In Luna's case, she did a couple other things after getting changed into her nighttime attire. First, she had a quick phone call with Sam about everything that's happened tonight, the latter of which who'd actually already learned about through Mazzy after she talked with Sully before that. During the conversation, Sam reaffirmed her support for Luna in her endeavors with Sully and also they decided that it would be a good idea to ultimately have their previously scheduled jam session at some point on Sunday afternoon.

Then just as she concluded her call with Sam, Luna noticed she got a text message. She checked it out to see it was from Sully, and as she read it, she became so moved.

_Hey, just wanted to say this before the night's over. Maybe this is too soon to say it since we've only been together for a couple of days, but I've felt this way for longer than that, so here I go…_

_I love you, Luna._

She didn't have to think it over or wait for that much longer. After all they've been though in just those couple of days and the fact she again felt so validated by knowing somebody did feel that way for her, there was only one way to properly respond.

_I love you, too, Sully._

If anything else, those five words officially confirmed Luna's own feelings for him and stamped out any doubts over it should they be around.

After sending that text, Luna shut off her phone for the night and got up into her bed. As she took the time to reach her slumber, she mentally thanked several select individuals who were by her side these past three days who really helped her out in this new exciting part of her life.

Sam, who never held anything against her after the way things ended between them, for them to still be close friends and for her to be so supportive of Luna's new relationship with Sully.

Lori and Leni, who just like when Luna was with Sam initially, were also supportive and excited about her being with Sully.

Luan, who not only was like the above older sisters in being supportive, but also having the courage and heart to talk with Luna earlier in the day and partly helped in giving her the willpower to wish in making things right with Sully.

And finally last but most certainly not least, Lincoln, who not only held no animosity towards Sully for the incident yesterday, but went above and beyond in proving his mettle as the 'man with the plan' with everything he did to bridge any gaps between him and Luna so they could continue on with their relationship.

Safe to say that once everything was taken into account, Luna was beyond grateful for all those and then some who were in her life and with their friendship, familial devotion, love and support, the possibilities with Sully only had endless potential from here.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh man, that was quite a journey. I guess I need to justify the length of this one in a one-shot form. In addition my preference for writing one-shots, I thought the events over the three day span in this story moved at a fast enough pace to doing this all in one go. Plus, it's not like I'm unique in the realm of real long one-shots. The benchmark that I use for what constitutes a maximum length for such is "First Love" by UnderratedHero over at FanFiction.net, which clocks in at nearly 27,000 words. But in a way, I do apologize in a sense if I sound too stubborn in way for not doing much in the way of multi-chaptered stories in the longest time. That could change somewhere down the line, but until such a possibility comes, one-shots aplenty!
> 
> In case anyone will ask if I may potentially do anything in relation to a possible follow up to this, I'll say it could possibly happen or maybe this'll only be a single story by itself. One may never know until it may happen...
> 
> And that should just about do it for now. Thank you all so much as usual and we'll be doing this again some point soon. See you then and take care.


End file.
